Russia slams Syrian gov, warns of mass killings at UNSC briefing

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Reuters
14 Mar 2025 05:09
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At a closed meeting, Russia's envoy to the UNSC blasted the new Syrian government, comparing the execution of Alawites to that of the Rwandan genocide.

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Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters, on October 29, 2024. (AP)

Russia denounced Syria's new leadership in a closed United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing this week, Reuters reported, citing two sources briefed on the meeting.

This comes after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) recorded the killing of 1,383 civilians, mostly Alawite Syrians, in the past weeks. The SOHR said that the majority of civilians killed were executed by personnel affiliated with the Syrian Defense Ministry or the Internal Security Force.

Russia warned against the rise of terrorism in Syria and compared the killings to Rwanda's genocide, the news agency reported. Moscow said that the execution of hundreds of Syrians drew similarities to the 1994 genocide in the African country, where Tutsis and Hutus were killed by extremists from the Hutu tribe.

"I say what I want in the closed consultations, based on the premise that it is closed consultations and nothing comes out," Nebenzia said when asked about whether he made the comparison at the meeting.

The briefing was called for by both Russia and the United States, where the latter's envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, said that "no one" had attempted to stop the killings in Syria.

Nebenzia warns of the 'Iraqi Scenario'

Reportedly, Nebenzia criticized key policies taken by Syria's interim government, headed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The Russian ambassador pointed to decisions such as the dissolution of the Syrian Arab Army and massive cuts of the public workforce, warning that the "Iraq scenario" could play out again.

Nebenzia was seemingly pointing to events following the US invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Following the US invasion, the Iraqi state institutions were dismantled or severely weakened, leading to years of violence that culminated in ISIS's takeover of Iraqi territory.

UNSC members worried about foreign fighters in Syria

It is also worth noting that new authorities have also installed a number of foreign fighters, who aided the fight against the previous government, in military positions.

Moscow reportedly lambasted the authorities for creating a "corrupt foundation" for the transitional phase, saying that foreign "terrorist" fighters were playing a "destructive role."

Witnesses, including fighters affiliated with the new government, have accused non Arab fighters of committing some of the war crimes, such as summary executions and indiscriminate killings.

Meanwhile, envoys of the United States, France, and China all expressed their conference of the presence of foreign fighters in Syria and the state of the transitional phase at the meeting.

UNSC negotiates a resolution on Syrian mass killings

Currently, the UNSC continues to negotiate a statement aimed at condemning the violence in Syria and expressing concerns over the impact of the escalating tensions among Syrians. The statement would also call on the transitional government to protect all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religion, Reuters reported.

Later, the news agency reported that a consensus was reached for the statement which will be announced on Friday.