Syria
Syria stresses the importance of the item under consideration and condemns al...
Syria stresses the importance of the item under consideration and condemns all forms of sexual violence, particularly in armed conflict. It stresses also the need to put an end to such acts and to bring their perpetrators to justice while avoiding selectivity.
My country has read the report (S/2012/33) of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence. It has also read the information provided by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Syria supports all efforts to end conflict-related sexual violence and to punish perpetrators and end impunity. However, we reject the allegations and claims made in the report with respect to my country, Syria. We request that caution and objectivity be exercised in addressing these important humanitarian issues.
The Special Representative mentioned my country in the report before us in th...
The Special Representative mentioned my country in the report before us in the context of what she called sexual violence and in the context of elections, political strife an civil unrest, thereby exceeding the mandate entrusted to her by resolutions 1888 (2009) and 1960 (2010). Under those resolutions, she has the right to express concern and to draw the attention of the Security Council to forms of sexual violence committed only in the context of armed conflict or post-conflict situations.
My delegation addressed many official letters to the Special Representative, ...
My delegation addressed many official letters to the Special Representative, including documented information on the responsibility of armed terrorist groups for acts of rape and sexual abuse as well as the killing of Syrian women and girls. We also sent the Representative a DVD including the documented confessions of members of those groups, proving their responsibility for those crimes. Regrettably, the Special Representative ignored our attempt to provide her with that document and made only a passing reference to the documented crimes perpetrated by terrorist groups. The Special Representative chose to depend on reports that lack credibility and professionalism, so that she can hold the Syrian authorities responsible for the commission of acts of sexual violence without any credible evidence. That is supported by the Secretary- General, who states, at the end of paragraph 87 of his report, that the international commission of inquiry had not received sufficient testimony in connection with allegations of acts of rape or other forms of sexual violence.
In conclusion, it is truly strange that the representative of the Israeli occ...
In conclusion, it is truly strange that the representative of the Israeli occupying Power — whose country has for decades committed all kinds of violations and crimes, including violence against girls and women in the occupied Arab territories in Palestine and in the occupied Syrian Golan — should accuse or lecture us even as Israel continues to commit all kinds of violence against women and girls who are still under the yoke of the Israeli occupation. They are killed, raped and abused. In the occupied Palestinian territories, a Palestinian woman gives birth or has a miscarriage at an Israeli checkpoint and can barely reach a hospital.