Armenia voted against UN HRC resolution on Syria

ArmInfo. Armenia voted against the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution on Syria adopted on March 24 at the initiative of the UK, EU countries, Turkey, Jordan,  Qatar and Kuwait.

The Russian delegation participating in the 46th session of the UN  Human Rights Council in Geneva regarded the resolution on Syria as  "extremely biased".  The representative of the Russian delegation  Dmitry Vorobyov said in his speech at the session that this document  "is extremely biased, built on unsubstantiated speculations and false  judgments, distorts reality and is openly politicized." The Russian  delegation, the diplomat noted, tried to find in the draft resolution  "prepared by the British colleagues" "at least some common grain or a  hint of objectivity." However, the authors "did not hesitate to  thicken the colors as much as possible by preparing a one-sided,  unbalanced and uneditable document, and included in it all  conceivable and inconceivable accusations, addressing them only to  one of the parties to the Syrian conflict." The representative of the  Russian delegation drew attention to the fact that the resolution  "lacks a clear reference to the imperative of combating terrorism and  thus distorts the true cause of the tragedy in Syria." In addition,  the topic of "foreign occupation of a part of the territory of Syria  and the plundering of natural resources" was not disclosed, the  efforts of the Syrian authorities to overcome the crisis remained  unnoticed.

The resolution selected the Syrian authorities as the main target for  criticism and condemnation. It claims that "tens of thousands of  people were killed while in custody by the ruling regime" and also  states that "the Syrian authorities carried out widespread and  systematic attacks against civilians in accordance with entrenched  policies, including crimes against humanity".  Besides Russia,  Armenia, Bolivia, Venezuela, China and Cuba voted against the  resolution. The Chinese representative noted in his speech that its  content is "unfair and biased", and the document itself "exerts  unilateral pressure on the Syrian government." "Such a draft  resolution will not contribute to the achievement of a political  solution to the Syrian issue and will not be able to alleviate the  suffering of the Syrian people," the diplomat, quoted by TASS, summed  up. 

The document was supported by 27 of the 47 countries that make  up the HRC: in addition to the EU countries, these are, in  particular, Somalia, Togo, the Marshall Islands and Ukraine. 14  states abstained from voting, including Uzbekistan, India and  Pakistan.