MOSCOW, March 6 (Itar-Tass) — Russia is against hushing up of illegal actions of the armed opposition fighters in Syria against the civilian population, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on Monday.
“Moscow with close attention and concern follows the developments in the sphere of observance of human rights and the rule of law in Syria,” he said. “Unfortunately, despite the exerted efforts, including by Russia, no significant improvement has been observed so far in this country.”
“We oppose attempts at unilateral interpretation of the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic in which the entire responsibility is placed on the Syrian government, and simultaneously illegal acts committed by the armed opposition fighters, including against the civilian population, are hushed up in every possible way,” diplomat said. “These facts are fixed, in particular, in the latest report of the international independent commission to investigate human rights violations in Syria that was established by the UN Human Rights Council.”
“We support sending former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as UN and LAS special envoy to Syria,” Dolgov confirmed. “We believe the planned visit to Syria by UN Deputy Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos is a step in the right direction. We hope that the activities of the UN Deputy Secretary-General will help the useful efforts taken in Syria by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Red Crescent, that are also aimed at providing relief to the civilian population in Homs.”
“In the difficult circumstances of the Syrian crisis it is inadmissible to either directly or indirectly encourage the use of violent methods by any of the conflict sides in achieving their goals, the more so using international human rights mechanisms as a tool of one-sided political pressure,” the Russian Foreign Ministry official said.
“It is necessary to continue the painstaking efforts for attaining the inter-Syrian accord without external interference, seeking as a matter of priority a ceasefire, peaceful civilians’ release from suffering, settlement of the severe humanitarian problems,” Dolgov said. “It is the only way to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and to achieve long-term humanitarian stabilisation in Syria.”