- Statements & Documents
- Posted
Press Release by Moscow Platform
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Geir O. Pedersen, during his participation in the 14th round of the Astana discussions Today (Tuesday, December 10, 2019), considered that the final decision whether or not to transfer the sessions of the Syrian Constitutional Committee to Damascus “belongs to the Syrians themselves”.
Moscow Platform for the Syrian opposition, which is presenting the issue of transferring the Committee's work to Damascus as a high-level national necessity, and welcoming this statement, it shows the following:
First, this statement means that there are no serious obstacles to moving the committee to Damascus, but rather the issue is related to the will of the Syrians themselves, and this also means that the United Nations is in compliance with the core rules of procedure which the committee was declared on the basis of them, including ensuring the security of its members, their families and their property.
Second, and since the matter is primarily related to the will of the Syrians themselves, and who are meant here are the Syrian political parties, the position towards the issue is a public test of the Syrian regime's seriousness in the political solution, which requires declaring an explicit and clear position on the issue.
Thirdly, the same thing applies to those parts of the opposition that rejected the proposal, and puts an end to the pretext that they used when they said that the committee "is in Geneva, and in Geneva only", and also puts them before a test of their seriousness in moving towards a political solution, by determining their position associated with emphasizing the necessary guarantees for the transfer of the committee and the supervision by the United Nations.
Damascus, December 10, 2019.
