A/66/PV.99 General Assembly

I should like to remind members that, as announced at the 97th plenary meeting, the debate on agenda item 34 and its sub-item (a) will take place at a later date to be announced. Members will also recall that, at its 97th plenary meeting, held on 16 February 2012, the Assembly adopted, under agenda item 34, resolution 66/253, entitled “The situation in the Syrian Arab Republic”. In accordance with paragraph 12 of that resolution, the Assembly will now hear the report by the Secretary- General on the implementation of the resolution. I now give the floor to His Excellency Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.

I am making this report as requested by resolution 66/253, of 16 February. Given the gravity of the situation, please be assured that we will keep the General Assembly regularly informed. We have all watched the events in Syria this week with growing alarm. We have seen heavy artillery shelling and tank fire in densely populated neighbourhoods across the country. A major assault on Homs took place yesterday. Civilian losses have clearly been heavy. We continue to receive grisly reports of summary executions, arbitrary detention and torture. In Homs, Hama and elsewhere, the brutal fighting has trapped civilians in their homes, without food, heat or electricity or medical care and without any chance of evacuating the wounded or burying the dead. People have been reduced to melting snow for drinking water. That atrocious assault is all the more appalling for having been waged by the Government itself, systematically attacking its own people. All agree that we must act in the face of this escalating crisis. Yesterday, the Security Council deplored the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and demanded access for relief workers. I welcome the Council’s clear and strong statement. The Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, condemned the “widespread and systematic” violations of human rights and demanded an immediate end to the violence. I am extremely disappointed that the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Valerie Amos, has not been able to travel to Syria despite repeated assurances. I once again urge the authorities to allow her to visit as soon as possible so that humanitarian relief workers can reach the many thousands of people who desperately need assistance. Today, teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society have been permitted to enter Homs, but they are waiting to get access to Bab Amr. It is essential that aid workers be allowed to help civilians in the most devastated areas of the city. As of this moment, assistance still cannot get through. As the Assembly knows, the Joint United Nations- Arab League Special Envoy, The Honourable Kofi Annan, will depart from New York this evening. During the past two days he has been consulting intensively with Member States, including members of the Security Council and the Arab Group, as well as the Syrian Mission and other concerned stakeholders. He plans to travel to Cairo next week for consultations with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, as well as to a number of other regional capitals, including Damascus. My predecessor has taken on a difficult mission with immense challenges. He needs the full and undivided support of the international community, speaking with one voice. Let me turn now to the particulars of the situation: the deepening humanitarian crisis, the increasingly worrying human rights picture and the political process that we hope will chart a way ahead. The Secretariat has sent a note verbale to the Permanent Mission of Syria requesting its response to the clear demands set forth in resolution 66/253, dated 16 February. We received a reply yesterday. The Secretariat has also requested information from the League of Arab States on what Member States are doing to support the Arab League initiative. In the past two weeks, I have remained in close contact with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. I met him last week in London and spoke with him as recently as yesterday. The Syrian Government has failed to deliver on its responsibility to protect its people. Civilian populations are under military assault in several cities. The disproportionate use of force by Syrian authorities has driven what had been largely peaceful opposition forces to resort to take up arms in some cases. But let us be clear, the opposition’s firepower appears to be minimal compared to the heavy weapons being used by the Syrian army. Armed extremist groups have also opportunistically used the situation to carry out terrorist acts, in particular in Damascus and Aleppo. While the continuing lack of access makes it impossible to verify specific casualty figures, credible reports suggest that the total number of people killed since March of last year is well above 7,500, including many women and children. On several occasions, the daily death toll has exceeded 100. Approximately 25,000 refugees are now registered with to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in neighbouring countries. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people are internally displaced. The Syrian Government has also resisted the General Assembly’s demand for full and unhindered access for international media. Journalists, too, have been killed or injured alongside the people whose plight they were there to report. Let me turn now to the human rights situation. The Assembly called upon the Syrian Government to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians, protect its population and fully comply with its obligations under applicable international law. The Syrian authorities clearly have not done so. The international commission of inquiry for Syria, in a report (A/HRC/19/60) issued on 22 February, concluded that Syrian Government forces had committed widespread, systematic and gross human rights violations, amounting to crimes against humanity, with the apparent knowledge and consent of the highest levels of the State. The commission’s report also concluded that anti- Government groups had committed abuses, although not comparable in scale and organization to those carried out by the State. The commission also found that the security forces and shabiha militias have continued to use live ammunition against peaceful protesters throughout the country, and that the Government has carried out reprisals in response to opposition calls for strikes. Freedom of expression continues to be severely restricted, and many human rights defenders, activists, protesters and journalists across the country are being arrested or detained. We are receiving widespread reports of torture under detention, even of children. In response to the worsening human rights situation, the Human Rights Council yesterday adopted a resolution that strongly condemns the use of force against civilians, summary executions, the killing and persecution of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, interference with access to medical treatment, torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children. The resolution also calls on the Government to allow free and unimpeded access by the United Nations and humanitarian agencies to carry out a full assessment of needs in Homs and other areas, and to permit humanitarian agencies to deliver vital relief goods and services, especially in Homs, Dar’a, Zabadani and other areas under siege. We must do everything in our power to end the crisis. We must help move towards a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system, as supported by the General Assembly. Yet to date, the international community has failed in its responsibility. In fact, the actions  — indeed, the inaction  —  of the international community seems to have encouraged the Syrian authorities in their brutal suppression of its citizens. Further militarization of the Syrian opposition is not the answer. The international community must urgently find unity in pressing the Syrian authorities and all other parties to stop the violence. It must insist, with one voice, that the Syrian authorities give access to international humanitarian workers as an essential first step towards a peaceful solution. It is with this aim in mind that, together with Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby of the Arab League, we announced the appointment of Kofi Annan as our Joint Special Envoy for Syria. Mr. Annan will work to end the violence and human rights violations, and promote a peaceful solution to the crisis. It is important to ensure that there is only one track in the mediation process being undertaken by the international community. Efforts to support the Arab League’s initiative to promote a peaceful solution also included last week’s meeting of the friends of the Syrian people in Tunisia, which brought together representatives from more than 65 nations and organizations. The meeting demonstrated wide international support for the Syrian people and sent a strong message to the Syrian authorities that the time has come to stop the bloodshed. The way towards a peaceful solution of the Syrian crisis is difficult but clear. First, there should be an immediate end to the killings and violence. International relief workers must be allowed in. Secondly, there is a clear need for an inclusive political dialogue among all Syrian actors. The international community must align itself with the process led by the Joint Envoy. To succeed, he will need our full and undivided support. It is time for the international community to speak with one voice, loud and clear. Continued division emboldens the Syrian authorities in their violent, dead-end path. Continued delay in the humanitarian effort causes more human suffering. Continued violence on the ground risks a descent into full civil war and sectarian strife that could haunt the country for generations to come. The stakes are high, above all for the people of Syria, as well as for the international community. We must act urgently and in concert. I thank the Assembly for its support.

I thank the Secretary- General. I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic.

I acknowledge the broad latitude that members can take in expressing and addressing different issues, but I thank the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic for his expressed respect to the Secretary-General and to the highest representative body, as I understand, of the Organization.

Allow me to say clearly that here I am speaking on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the States members of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council. I would like to thank the President for holding this meeting and the Secretary-General for his clear and comprehensive statement. The States members of the Gulf Cooperation Council warmly welcome the appointment of Mr. Kofi Annan as joint Special Envoy of the Secretary-General and the League of Arab States to Syria. We believe that, given his worldwide reputation, singular skills and great sense of fairness, his appointment reflects the will and determination of the international community to devote all possible efforts to reaching a swift solution to the Syrian crisis and putting an end to the suffering of our brotherly Syrian people, in accordance with the initiative of the League of Arab States (see S/2012/71, annex) and resolution 66/253 of 16 February. Since the Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on the situation in Syria owing to the regrettable exercise of the right of veto by some members of the Council, the Syrian regime believes that it has been given the green light to crush unarmed Syrian civilians and to extinguish their revolution. The Syrian regime is behaving as if it were in a race against time to finish the task before the international community moves again. We have witnessed a continuing escalation in attacks against civilians, and the number of victims is increasing daily. Yesterday evening, we saw the Syrian forces roll into Baba Amr, and we witnessed the failure of the international community in the test of conscience. It is as if we were witnessing a new Srebrenica — as if the international community had learned nothing from the lessons of Rwanda, Kosovo and Gaza. The Security Council is today more than ever called upon to play its legally sanctioned role and shoulder its moral responsibility by calling for an end to the violence; by taking all measures necessary to put an end to the actions of the Syrian killing machine; by saving the civilians who are under siege in Homs, Hama and other Syrian cities; and by providing medical and humanitarian assistance to the affected civilians. The Council must also support the mission of the United Nations-League of Arab States Joint Special Envoy, Mr. Kofi Annan, who is working to find a political solution that would ensure the Syrian people’s right to a life of dignity, prosperity and security. Such a solution should be based on comprehensive national unity among all segments of the Syrian population, regardless of political, sectarian, ethnic or religious affiliation, on the basis of the road map drafted by the League of Arab States, which is supported by the General Assembly, and should involve the deployment of joint Arab-United Nations forces so as to maintain peace and security in Syria. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other States members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are fully prepared to spearhead any joint effort aimed at saving the Syrian people and bolstering their ability to protect themselves from their own authorities, which lost their legitimacy by shedding the blood of their own people. The States members of the GCC assign to the international community in general and to the Security Council in particular and, more specifically, the Powers that exercised the right of veto the moral responsibility for what is now taking place in the streets and homes of Baba Amr and Homs. History and conscience will hold them to account for failing to respond to the Syrian people’s cry for help.

On 19 March, Egypt, on behalf of a number of sponsoring States, submitted the draft resolution that was later adopted as resolution 66/253. Today I should like to address the Assembly in my national capacity. I should like at the outset to express my gratitude to the Secretary-General for his outstanding report to the General Assembly, which he made in accordance with paragraph 12 of resolution 66/253, of 16 February 2012, on the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, which is deteriorating daily and having grave political, social and economic consequences. Egypt welcomes Mr. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General, as the United Nations-League of Arab States Joint Special Envoy. We have full confidence in his proven wisdom and insight as well as his ability to reach innovative solutions that will strengthen the role of the United Nations in dealing with the aggravated crisis in Syria. Egypt reiterates that the visit by the Special Envoy is in accordance with resolution 66/253, the resolutions adopted by the League of Arab States on 22 January and 12 February 2012, and the plan of action agreed upon by the League of Arab States and the Syrian Government. The claim made today that Syria was not a party to those resolutions is false. Syria did not oppose the suspension of Libya’s membership in the League of Arab States when violations were occurring in Libya. Syria took part in all the resolutions adopted by the Arab League, including one aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya, which was adopted as Security Council resolution 1973 (2011). Thus Syria cannot today use the excuse that it was not a party to the resolutions adopted by the Arab League when Syria itself participated in the adoption of similar resolutions dealing with the situation in Libya. The priorities for the Special Envoy’s mission are clear: the immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities by all parties  —  the Government and the armed groups  —  and unconditional access of humanitarian assistance. Egypt calls upon the Syrian authorities to allow an immediate visit by Ms. Valerie Amos, in fulfilment of Syria’s national duty to protect its population and to work with the United Nations to provide humanitarian relief to all areas, including Homs, Hama, Idlib and others. We must address the humanitarian needs of the brotherly Syrian people and ensure the immediate cessation of all violations of human rights, which were the subject of successive resolutions of the Human Rights Council. The most recent of those resolutions was adopted yesterday and emphasized that the situation was escalating and deteriorating by the minute. It stressed the need to initiate an active dialogue between the Government and the opposition, within and outside the country, in order to find a solution acceptable to all the Syrian people, not just a particular community or sect. Egypt agrees with the Secretary-General that providing various parties with weapons will worsen the crisis and escalate it to the level of a civil war from which the entire region will suffer. At the same time, the Syrian Government must not consider the failure of the Security Council to adopt the Arab resolution a license to kill and oppress the protesters. The death of more than 7,500 people so far is proof of the grave deterioration of the humanitarian situation and the situation of human rights in sisterly Syria. We hope that Syria will realize the gravity of the situation and the fact that the report presented today by the Secretary-General, at the request of the General Assembly, is an honest reflection of the grave and escalating situation on the ground, of international concern in that respect, and of Syria’s explicit refusal to abide by international law. In this forum only, the Syrian Government rejects the detailed information provided on the situation on the ground. The basic problem is not who is doing the killing, the Syrian Government or the armed groups. The problem is that innocent Syrian civilians are being killed daily in the streets, people whose only sin is to live in a country whose Government and leadership refuse to abide by their responsibility to protect their own people. There is no legal or procedural problem in dealing with this issue. There is only one problem, and it is a humanitarian one: a people’s suffering at the hands of a Government that denies everything that is happening on the ground, thereby deepening a humanitarian crisis that is inflicting death and destruction on its people. We would request that the Secretary-General present to us, here in the General Assembly as well as the Security Council, periodic reports on developments on the ground and on the progress achieved by Mr. Kofi Annan in the context of his joint mission. We hope that Mr. Annan will use his expertise and skills to achieve what the Security Council to date has failed to do and the General Assembly in its resolution sought to do by ending the serious humanitarian crisis there.

At the meeting of the General Assembly held on 13 February (see A/66/PV.96), we expressed our views on the current situation in the Middle East and in Syria, and I will not repeat those points. First, on the appointment of Mr. Kofi Annan as the Special Envoy to Syria, I would like to say that, considering his reputation of having broad experience of resolving disputes in different parts of the world during his long tenure as the head of the Organization as well as his eminence at the international level, we hope that he will carry out the important task given to him in the best interest of the Syrian people. The Islamic Republic of Iran is supportive of any constructive, unbiased and peaceful Syrian-led political process. We stand ready to play our role in that process. We sincerely hope that his mission leads to a prompt end to violence and the continuation of the political reform process in Syria in resolving the crisis in that country peacefully. However, it is regrettable that, from the very beginning of the Syrian crisis, some countries took positions and made provocative statements that were more in line with undermining any possibility of a political settlement, calling for regime change, encouraging the opposition towards an armed struggle, and pushing the country towards a civil war. What is urgently needed for Syria today to emerge from the crisis is an end to foreign interventions and the funnelling of money and arms to the opposition groups. The people in the conflict areas are in need of humanitarian assistance. The presence of armed rebels would be an impediment to assisting civilians who are in dire need of humanitarian aid. The ongoing crisis in Syria is indicative of the fact that coercive sanctions, pressure and attempts to interfere in Syrian internal affairs would only lead to the deepening of the political and social crisis. Instability in Syria will have many negative ramifications for the region as a whole. Our goal should be concentrated on devising a process that would lead to broader political reconciliation, strengthening national unity, and ensuring the public order, national security, stability and prosperity of the Syrian people. We believe that the main role of the Secretary- General, including his Special Envoy, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, is to facilitate the engagement of Syrian political groups with the Syrian Government for a Syrian-led political process, while taking into account the reform process announced by the Government, based on the aspirations of the Syrians and ensuring respect for the country’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. That call should be heeded by all groups. The main and most important point that I would like to make today is that, while we welcome the mission of Mr. Kofi Annan as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, we must all try and do our best to help him to implement his mission without further fuelling the situation and exacerbating the crisis. So we should pave the way for a peaceful resolution and a suitable environment for Mr. Kofi Annan to do his job. We are very hopeful that, with his reputation and the assistance of the Secretary-General, his effort will lead to a reasonable solution to Syria’s crisis.

The representative of the Syrian Arab Republic has asked to speak in exercise of the right of reply. May I remind him that statements in the exercise of the right of reply are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 34.