UNSC urges Syria to protect people regardless of religion

The UN Security Council on Friday condemned recent executions of civilians in Syria and urged its transitional authorities to respect all people regardless of religion or ethnicity.

In a statement, the council said it condemned widespread violence in western Syria since 6 March that has included “mass killings of civilians,” particularly among the Alawite community, associated with ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were killed in “executions by security forces and allied groups” after Assad loyalists launched an insurgency against the new Syrian government. 

The Security Council expressed “grave concern over the impact of this violence on escalating tensions among communities in Syria and calls on all parties to immediately cease all violence and inflammatory activities and to ensure that all civilians, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations are protected.”

“The Security Council calls on the interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion,” said the statement issued on behalf of the council and read out by the ambassador from Denmark, its current chair.

Since Assad was ousted in December, many Alawites have lived in fear of reprisals for his brutal rule.

The new violence began last Thursday when clashes broke out after gunmen loyal to Assad staged attacks on the new security forces.

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that toppled Assad, has vowed to prosecute those behind the “bloodshed of civilians”, and has set up a fact-finding committee.

HTS, an offshoot of the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, is still proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several governments including the United States.

Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011 the Security Council had been largely stifled on the conflict because Russia repeatedly used its veto power to protect the Assad regime.

But things have changed since his ouster, as the text released Friday was prepared jointly by Russia and the United States.

In December, the council urged Syria to engage in an inclusive political process involving all of its communities as it tries to put the Assad years behind it. The statement Friday repeated this appeal.