8406th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East

Special Envoy stresses importance of convening constitutional committee in Syria, saying United Nations open to any suggestions on composition at 8407th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 01:34:42
• Production Date: 19 November 2018
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: BASHAR JAAFARI; FRANÇOIS DELATTRE; GUSTAVO MEZA-CUADRA; KAREN PIERCE; MANSOUR AL-OTAIBI; STAFFAN DE MISTURA
• Subject Topical: CEASEFIRES; CIVIL SOCIETY; CONSTITUTIONS; COUNTER-TERRORISM; POLITICAL CRISIS; SOVEREIGNTY; SYRIA SITUATION; WOMEN IN POLITICS
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 2315825
• Parent Id: 2314905

Description

Reiterating the importance of convening a constitutional committee as a first step towards a political solution to the crisis in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today that the United Nations is open to any suggestions on the list of disputed attendees that allows inclusive participation by civil society.

“Civil society in Syria deserves a voice,” Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said by teleconference from Geneva, in a briefing during which he emphasized that the priority of his remaining time in his position, which he is leaving at the end of November, will be to confirm whether or not the Sochi plan to begin a political process can be implemented and to determine whether a credible constitutional committee can be convened. “This work is absolutely urgent,” he stressed.

Today’s meeting followed the Special Envoy’s 26 October briefing (see Press Release SC/13556) in which he told the Council that officials in Damascus rejected the United Nations formulation of a list of proposed participants in the constitutional committee – the so-called “middle third” group comprising civil society. Today, he reported some positive momentum in recent meetings among and between representatives of the Astana guarantors group on Syria – Iran, Turkey and the Russian Federation – as well as members of the so-called Small Group – Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and the United States.

Common ground has emerged on reinforcing the Idlib ceasefire, on creating conditions for the voluntary return of displaced persons and on convening the constitutional committee, he said. Offering support to the upcoming meeting of the Astana guarantors to pursue agreement on the composition of the constitutional committee, he stressed that the United Nations is open to any suggestions by Syria and the guarantors relating to the middle third group as long as it meets the criteria of inclusiveness, credibility and diversity.

As per previous agreements, he continued, the group must include Syrian experts as well as members of civil society, tribal leaders and women’s representatives. It must also include people who side neither with the Government nor the opposition, and a minimum 30 per cent participation by women. He noted that the rejected United Nations list encompasses all those conditions.

He emphasized once again that Syria’s sovereignty has never been questioned, reaffirming that the political process must be owned and led by Syrians. However, it is important to bear in mind that the United Nations has a mandate to convene the political process in the context of the ongoing conflict and suffering, he said.

Council members took the floor to pay tribute to the Special Envoy as he ends his tenure and to express support for convening the constitutional committee, and for full implementation of Council resolutions on a political resolution of the Syrian crisis. Speakers also called for continuing and reinforcing the Idlib ceasefire, underlining that the momentum from that agreement must not be lost in moving towards a comprehensive peace in Syria.

Representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom – both members of the Small Group on Syria – expressed impatience with the delays in convening the constitutional committee, noting that 11 months have passed since the Sochi agreement between the guarantors and the Syrian Government was signed. The United Kingdom’s representative asked for an end to “shenanigans” that cast doubt on the sincerity of Syria and the Astana group, emphasizing that it is imperative to work with the Special Envoy in determining credible representation for civil society.

The representative of the Russian Federation, however, stressed that Syrians themselves must decide the criteria for the constitutional committee’s composition. Citing constructive dialogue between experts of the Russian Federation and the United States, he said that in order for their efforts to bear fruit, actors must end violations of Syrian sovereignty and derisive talk of the Syrian “regime”. For the first time in the history of the Syrian crisis, he said, members of the international community agree that conditions in the country are stabilizing since the Russian Federation’s counter-terrorism operations began in 2015.

Syria’s representative expressed support for efforts to convene the constitutional committee as soon possible, in accordance with the Sochi outcome. “The Syrian people have the exclusive right to decide on their future without any external interference,” he said, emphasizing that the constitution emerging from the committee will define his country’s future for generations. Asking all delegates to refer to his country by its official name, he said Charter principles have too often been flouted as some States attempt to turn United Nations organs into instruments for the pursuit of their own political agendas.

Also speaking today were representatives of Kuwait, France, Côte d’Ivoire, Peru, Kazakhstan, Equatorial Guinea, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden, Poland and China.

The meeting began at 3:03 p.m. and ended at 4:38 p.m.

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