Russia, China pressure EU to water down UN text on Syria

PRESS RELEASE

Syrian dissident testifying at UN emergency session, available for interviews

À Genève: Un leader de l’opposition syrienne témoignera auprès de la
session extraordinaire de l’ONU et sera disposible pour des entrevues

GENEVA – Rights groups urged the EU not to give in to pressure by Russia and other Syrian allies to water down a proposed condemnation of Damascus at the UN Human Rights Council, which has already been changed today to include language recognizing Syria’s “territorial integrity.”

The Geneva-based UN Watch, which leads an international coalition of 50 human rights groups that petitioned for the council’s emergency session today, welcomed Friday’s EU draft (click here for text) –which would unequivocally condemn Syria and establish a full inquiry — but expressed concern over erosion of the text after attacks on it by Russia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan (click here for summary).

“The world’s top human rights body shouldn’t be appeasing Syrian allies like Moscow and Beijing,” said UN Watch director Hillel Neuer, “and the EU and the US should make sure not to sacrifice moral clarity on the altar of consensus.”

• Syrian Opposition Leader in Geneva Today to Testify Before UN — Available for Interviews:
  Syrian opposition leader Lama Atass will testify at the UN Human Right Council session today on behalf of UN Watch. Ms. Atass, from the Syrian city of Homs, heads the Paris-based pro-democracy group France Syrie Démocratie.  Lama ATASS, née en Syrie en 1967, militante et activiste syrienne contre le Régime Assad, fille d’un opposant syrien exilé depuis 1976, fondatrice et présidente de France Syrie Démocratie à Paris, à l’origine de plusieurs manifestations et actions comme le meeting du 4 juillet à paris.
    
• Petition by 50 Human Rights Groups Calling for Special Session, Permanent Investigator, and Public Hearings for Syrian Victims