THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it has taken note of recent comments in the media and by the opposition in respect to Guyana’s abstention vote on General Assembly Resolution 66/253 B.
Consequently, the Ministry has issued on the matter a statement which said:
1. The Government of Guyana has followed with grave concern the unfolding situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the increasingly heavy toll it is taking on the people of that country. According to United Nations reports, serious violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law have been perpetrated by all sides to the conflict.

2. The Government of Guyana has, on two previous occasions, supported resolutions of the General Assembly strongly condemning violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Syrian authorities, even though the said resolutions paid scant attention to the actions of other parties. The most recent of these was General Assembly resolution 66/253 A which, inter alia, mandated the appointment of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.

3. Guyana’s abstention vote on August 3 has to be seen in the context of the evolving situation on the ground, the urgent need for a political settlement and for an efficacious response by the international community within the framework of the United Nations Charter and international law. As some local reporting has illustrated, the situation is evidently complex, with multiple interests being prosecuted by various actors, both internal and external.

4.  A number of changes have taken place on the ground, which have led to a reconsideration of Guyana’s position:
The situation has become increasingly militarized, and the presence of terrorist elements has been recognised as contributing to the intensification of the conflict.

The international community has grown more divided, resulting in the inability of the Security Council to agree on an appropriate response. As the outgoing Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League has observed, the challenges within Syria have been compounded by the lack of unity on the part of the international community.

5. The Government of Guyana is of the view that the interests of the Syrian people will be served by an immediate end to the violence and bloodshed by all parties, and the provision of the necessary humanitarian and other support, as envisaged in the six-point plan endorsed by the Security Council.

Whatever the perceptions of the parties involved, the focus of attention has to be on the search for a viable political solution. For the response to have any realistic chance of succeeding, the international community needs to be united, and to adopt a comprehensive approach addressing all sides to the conflict. The mere singling out of one party will not suffice.

6. In the considered opinion of the Government, the resolution as drafted did not contribute to the achievement of these objectives. Instead of unifying the international community, it essentially reproduced within the larger General Assembly the divisions that were evident in the Security Council.  In this regard, it was a missed opportunity.

7. Furthermore, the resolution contained specific provisions which the Government of Guyana viewed as unacceptable.

The resolution welcomes an Arab League resolution calling on the President of Syria to step down, a call that Guyana could not logically support, since this was outside the accepted international norms of democratic governance processes.

The resolution also encourages cohesion among the opposition, many of whom are unknown to the international community, and some of whom are identified by the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry with the perpetration of human rights violations and with contributing to the escalation of the conflict.

Guyana could not blindly support opposition elements under such circumstances.

The Government of Guyana believes that the situation in Syria is a complex one, exacerbated by differing interests of the many actors on the ground, that have seen the people of Syria being the greatest casualties. As a concerned member of the international community, Guyana continues to urge a peaceful resolution in accordance with the principles of international law.