The Syrian Coalition: We support Liechtenstein draft resolution on the use of “veto” power

Liechtenstein on behalf of the 38 member states in the United Nations submitted a draft resolution that would mandate convening a meeting of the UN General Assembly whenever a permanent Security Council member uses its veto power. The Syrian National Coalition announced the complete support of the draft resolution.

The head of the Syrian National Coalition, Salem Al-Meslet, stated yesterday that we shouldn’t remain silent on disturbing the Security Council. The work of the Security Council must be corrected, which bears the responsibility to guarantee the international peace and security around the world.

Al-Meslet pointed out that Russia has obstructed the UN Security Council for several years by using its veto power on the resolutions condemning the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons and holding him accountable for the crimes it committed against the Syrian people, which claimed the lives of about one million Syrian civilians.

Al-Meslet stressed that “despite the international reports and investigations that proved the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime more than once, Russia used veto power to shield and support the regime in all its crimes.”

Al-Meslet “pointed out that Russia, through its threat to use its veto power, controls the drafting of the UN resolution on the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in Syria, stressing that Russia is now using humanitarian issues as bargaining chips, according to SOC’s Media Department.”

The resolution calls for an automatic meeting of the General Assembly members, which is 193 countries, each time the veto is used by any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, without clarifying the purpose of that meeting.