Qatar against plans to divide Syria

The State of Qatar has reiterated the need to stand against all plans aimed at dividing and fragmenting Syria, emphasising that maintaining the unity of the Syrian territory is one of the fixed principles that cannot be violated. This came in a speech delivered by HE Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG) Ambassador Faisal bin Abdullah al-Henzab before a session of the 31st session of the Human Rights Council (Item 4) on interactive dialogue with International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Al-Henzab condemned the refusal of Syrian authorities to allow the International Commission of Inquiry to enter the Syrian territories to implement its mandate. He said: “This interactive dialogue coincides with the launch of a new round of political talks between the Syrian parties which we hope will lead to a political solution to the Syrian crisis,” adding that the Syrian regime has never been serious about reaching such a solution since the beginning of the crisis that began with peaceful revolution aimed at establishing a democratic system and ensuring freedom and justice and respect for human rights. The Syrian regime has been pursuing different policies and means in order to scuttle the political talks since Geneva 1 in 2012, the ambassador said, adding that these policies include military escalation, continued destruction of cities and bombing of civilians and the displaced, continued imposition of the blockade and starvation policy along with hindering the delivery of relief aid and medical supplies to the Syrian people to relieve suffering, and continued imprisonment of innocent detainees, especially women and children, who are languishing unjustly in prison and subjected to the worst kinds of torture and oppression. The non-respect of Syrian regime and its allies to the cessation of hostilities agreed upon recently as well as numerous violations targeting the moderate Syrian opposition denote the regime’s determination to torpedo the UN efforts to reach a political settlement for the Syrian crisis, al-Henzab said. Qatar’s Permanent Representative expressed great concern over what was stated in Part V of the report on attempts to destroy Syria and ripping apart its social fabric, while condemning in the strongest terms the Syrian regime and its allies’ practices which aim to bring about a demographic change in Syria, displace people from their areas of origin, and spread sectarianism and factionalism.