The Foreign Minister expressed this position in a statement read on his behalf by the Syrian permanent delegate Qusay Al-Dahhak during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly dedicated to debating the end of sanctions against Syria.
The sanctions “also violate the Charter of the United Nations, which reaffirms the principle of sovereign equality among states and calls for international cooperation to improve the economic and social situation of peoples,” stated the Minister, who added that Washington and its allies abandoned diplomatic work and dialogue and adopted policies based on hegemony, embargo and coercive measures to attack other countries and find pretexts to meddle in their internal affairs and try to undermine their sovereignty.
“All their weak pretexts to justify their criminal behavior will not change the fact that these measures are illegitimate,” said Al-Mekdad, who stressed that the unjust sanctions deprive many peoples of their basic rights, including the right to a decent life, to health, food and development, and expose them to collective punishment, which constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter, which allowed the imposition of sanctions exclusively by agreement of the Security Council and under specific standards.
Syria has been suffering for more than four decades from the effects of illegal measures imposed by successive US administrations and the European Union, and these measures were intensified during the war to suffocate the Syrian people and punish them for sticking to their national positions, Al-Mekdad clarified.
The minister reiterated that the sanctions represent economic terrorism and a sword hanging over the necks of the people, financial institutions and commercial and business sectors of third countries, which have begun to abstain from any dealings with white countries for fear of being seen affected by unfair US sanctions.
Finally, the Syrian minister called on UN member states to join the efforts to confront the policies of famine and siege and demand the immediate, complete and unconditional lifting of all sanctions imposed by the West on several countries.
mh/llp/jha/fm
