Geneva-Sana
Ambassador Husam El-Din Ala, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Office and International Organizations in Geneva, called on the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner to end the Turkish regime's practices of using water as a weapon and collective punishment in the aggression against the Syrian people.
In discussing the briefing of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the forty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Ala stressed that the Turkish regime’s practices that amount to a crime against humanity expose millions of Syrians today to catastrophic humanitarian conditions that threaten their basic rights, including their rights to health, food, water, electricity and development.
Ambassador Ala reiterated the importance of approaching the human rights situation in an objective and impartial manner that respects the Charter of the United Nations and is based on constructive dialogue and cooperation based on the national priorities of states to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights without discrimination.
Ambassador Alla clarified that in light of the Corona pandemic, special attention must be paid to economic, social and cultural rights, especially the right to development, and the challenges related to the rise of racism and racial discrimination and the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.
Ambassador Alla stressed that recovering from the deep consequences of the pandemic requires a coordinated global response and ensuring fair and equitable access to the Corona vaccine, noting that Western countries continue to ignore calls for solidarity and international cooperation and their insistence on moving in the opposite direction.
With regard to what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, indicated in her briefing on the importance of sustainable access to water in light of accelerating climate changes, the ambassador indicated that access to water is a basic human right and an essential pillar in maintaining a sustainable environment, especially In light of the constant threat of the “Covid 19” pandemic, the use of water is the first line of defense to stop its spread.
Ambassador Ala renewed Syria's call to the High Commissioner to pay greater attention to the violations and arbitrary and discriminatory practices committed by the Israeli occupation entity against Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan.