Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the UN Security Council Meeting on Syria
Mr. President,
We attentively listened to the briefings by Under-Secretaries-General Rosemary DiCarlo and Mark Lowcock. However, our appreciation goes to you, the humanitarian troika for convening a Security Council meeting on the situation in the North-West of the Syrian Arab Republic.
I tell you frankly: we were also going to convene such a meeting, because the time has long become ripe to talk about the state of affairs in Syria, including the Idlib de-escalation zone.
Some of our partners are sending signals to the international community that either have nothing to do with the real situation in Syria or distort the situation on the ground.
We are very much puzzled at the fact that when the Western forces that illegitimately operated in Syria were cleansing Baghouz and Hajin, whereby civil infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, was damaged and peaceful population died, no one ever suggested discussing the situation in those settlements.
Are peaceful Syrians in Idlib different from those in Deir ez-Zor? Why were those who died in Hajin not worthy of being discussed in the Council? When Raqqa and other cities in the Euphrates region were razed down to the ground, why did not anyone including our “humanitarian Caucus” ever remember about schools and hospitals? Why was not anyone asking such inquisitive questions as we have heard today?
We believe it is not that much about humanitarian disaster that, we are told, will happen once a large-scale military campaign starts in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
We have heard same allegations as reconciliation of various areas of Syria was in progress. Apparently, it is all about the desire to keep areas out of control of Damascus as long as possible, no matter who rules there, even if these are terrorists from ‘Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’ (HTS) who do their best to “camouflage” and pretend they are a “political force”.
Unfortunately, despite public pledges, the “anti-regime” sentiment is not gone. Same is with the goal to isolate and change authority in Damascus.
Today we have heard again words saying that we should restore the ceasefire, reiterate commitment to the Sochi Memorandum dated 17 September 2018. I emphasize: this memorandum is being fully implemented. All the military action is caused only by the need to respond to terrorists’ provocations. Once again, I remind that the Turkish-Russian memorandum does not prohibit, but encourages combatting terrorism.
The Syrian government has repeatedly proclaimed pauses in the military action that terrorists deliberately sabotaged. On 12 June, together with our Turkish colleagues we negotiated measures to be taken to spread the ceasefire regime throughout the entire area of the de-escalation zone. However, again HTS terrorists who control 99% of the Idlib area, continued to shell at the Syrian territory.
Since the beginning of May, HTS has continuously attacked positions of the Syrian governmental forces, Russian air base “Khmeimim”, and towns and villages that are close to the de-escalation zone. They use multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), mortars, and combat UAVs. Over the recent days, 12 settlements in Hama and Latakia Governorates have suffered from shelling.
On 6 June, jihadists launched a missile strike on hospital in Mhardeh. Serious damage was inflicted on the surgery, emergency treatment, and admission units.
On June 16, in the same town a missile attack wounded several people, and seriously damaged the urban infrastructure.
Yesterday militants shelled at human settlement Kudehi in Governorate Aleppo. 11 civilians died, 15 more were wounded. There are children among the victims. Mark Lowcock mentioned this episode today; however, he forgot to say at whose hands those people died.
The towns of Suqaylabiyah and Mhardeh, mainly Christian-populated, suffer from mortar and missile shelling on a regular basis. It is peaceful population that are afflicted thereby, including women and children. Civil infrastructure, medical and educational facilities sustain damage. We have not heard a word about it today: either from our Western colleagues or from UN representatives. Do they not know that terrorist launch attacks?
We can provide many more examples. More detailed information is presented in bulletins on de-escalation zones issued by the Defense Ministry of Russia, that we circulate in the Security Council on a regular basis.
Despite provocations and aggressive outings of the militants, Russia remains committed to the agreements we have achieved with Turkey on stabilization in Idlib. The military of our two countries maintain lasting contact and coordinate their activities in order to prevent de-escalation of violence and destabilization. However, Russia and Turkey will not turn a blind eye to dangerous provocations of terrorists that threaten Turkish territory, Russian air base “Khmeimim”, the Syrian military, and peaceful people.
Stop your implicit attempts to split the “Astana format”. The “Astana format” remains one of the effective, to say the least, mechanisms working to stabilize the situation in the SAR.
We stress once again: Syrian armed forces and Russian Air-Space forces target only terrorists’ facilities identified as such by intelligence data. We have a feeling of déjà vu today. Again, we hear moaning about destroyed hospitals, including those the coordinates of which were known. I have already said (not only today, but at previous meetings and even last year): in the entire pre-conflict Syria there was not that many hospitals as you say have been destroyed.
It is no secret that militants use civil infrastructure, hospitals and schools for military purposes, and they use people as a “human shield”. We reject point blank any accusations of launching indiscriminate strikes. We do not launch attacks against civil population.
We demand that all colleagues, including the UN Secretariat and UN specialized bodies used only verified information in their assessments. We have long had serious questions as to the sources of information, including those of them the UN bodies (including the World Health Organization) turn to. Please convey my words to Mark Lowcock and Rosemary DiCarlo who are now absent from this room. By the way, they do not travel to areas where strikes against hospitals are allegedly launched.
When checked, it turns out the most data is just phone calls from some “reliable sources” that nobody verified and nobody wants to name.
Today much was said about chemical weapons. Let me say that “White Helmets” that some of you are so fond of, and that collaborate with Nusra, plot new chemical provocations. We call upon the international community to be alert, because new setups of chemical weapon usage might be coming. We have warned about it on multiple occasions.
Reportedly, HTS established an entire division to tackle this.
Whereas information that comes from the Syrian government and warns against plotted terrorist chemical attacks is something the international specialized bodies just prefer to ignore.
Mr. President,
Against the backdrop of alarmist statements on Idlib, the Security Council should not shift its focus from the worrisome and volatile situation in the East Bank of Euphrates that is out of control of the Syrian government.
This part of Syria builds up tension. The local population resists demographic engineering imposed on them with the support of the Western coalition. Protest capacity is accumulating that can escalate into an armed confrontation. We believe an extensive escalation can be avoided and sustainable national reconciliation process can be started only given termination of the illegal international U.S.-led occupation of Syria and beginning of dialogue between representatives of the local ethnic communities and the authorities of Syria.
We should pay priority attention to the situation in Baghouz, Hajin, Raqqa – settlements situated in the North-East of the SAR that are in a devastated condition and almost unsuitable for people to live in.
IDP camp “Al-Hawl” in Hasakah Governorate (not controlled by the Syrian government) is worth Security Council’s specific attention. The situation in the camp is almost disastrous.
The camp is overcrowded – the total number of inhabitants exceeds 74 thousand, 47 thousand of them being under aged. Adults in the camp are radical militants. So radical in fact, that it is basically unsafe to be in the camp, even for humanitarian personnel.
In “Al-Hawl” there is severe shortage of water, food, medicines, medical personnel and equipment. Infectious deceases are thriving.
On our part, we continue to work in coordination with the Syrian authorities to evacuate Syrians from IDP camp “Rukban”, situated in the zone of illegitimate U.S. occupation.
In the recent days, the camp’s inhabitants have recommenced to exit to the government-controlled areas, despite impediments created by illegal armed formations that take shelter in this area of Syria. As of now, approximately 14 thousand people have left the camp.
The situation around “Rukban” and “Al-Hawl” demonstrates certain patterns that show themselves in the Syrian conflict. Problematic IDP and refugee camps emerge only at the territories that are illegally occupied by foreign troops. It is these areas that display the gravest human rights violations.
Mr. President,
Getting back to the situation in Idlib, let me point out that ultimately this Governorate, just like other Syrian territories, should be back under control of the Syrian government, the hotbed of terrorism there should be eradicated. Besides, it is vital to prevent terrorists from spreading to other areas of Syria and farther in the region.
Militants who fought in Syria have already started to relocate to Afghanistan, Libya and actually can get back to countries of their nationality in Europe or Asia. To counter the spread of this threat is much more important than to artificially inflate and escalate the situation in the Persian Gulf.
Russia will set forth its efforts to combat terrorism in Syria, and establish a sustainable political process in this country in its national capacity, as a member of the “Astana process” and as a UNSC Member State. We will stand ready for interaction with all Member States that are constructive and interested in bringing peace back to Syria.
Thank you.
In response to the representative of Great Britain:
Thank you, Mr. President,
So that is what it is about. Now I have understood the essence of the question and of the answer. It turns out, one must not bomb hospitals the coordinates of which are known. But when it comes to carpet bombing that ruins hospitals down to the ground – it is acceptable. This is how I understood the statement of my English colleague.
In response to the question, I have already said that we seriously doubt the statistics of devastated medical facilities that we are given. We have raised this issue, and not only in this room. We raised it in a dialogue with our UN colleagues and received no trustworthy and clear answer. How accurate is the statistics that we are presented? We were told that statistics proving damage inflicted on hospitals in this or that area that used to be bombed, is based on evidence of some “trusted persons” that the WHO is in connection with, and who inform the WHO. This data, that no one verifies, becomes the basis for the statistics. This is not quite convincing for us.
We will continue to demand information as to the statistics that enabled high-ranking UN officials to operate the data we hear in this room and that is at the core of accusations that we hear from some Member-States.
Thank you.
