Equipo Nizkor - Position of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces on the Geneva conference on Syria.

United Nations
Security Council

S/2016/84

Distr.: General
28 January 2016
Original: English

Letter dated 27 January 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a letter from the Special Representative of the Syrian National Coalition to the United Nations, Najib Ghadbian, dated 27 January 2016 (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter and its annex as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Abdallah Al-Mouallimi
Permanent Representative

Annex to the letter dated 27 January 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

On behalf of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, I have the honour to forward to you a letter from the Supreme Negotiating Committee, originally submitted to the Secretary-General on 26 January 2016, outlining our position regarding the forthcoming Geneva conference on Syria and our ongoing efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its enclosure circulated to the Security Council.

(Signed) Najib Ghadbian
Special Representative to the United Nations

Enclosure

[Original: Arabic]

At the outset, we should like to thank Your Excellency for the great efforts you have made to achieve the noble goals of the United Nations and, in particular, your efforts to end the suffering of the Syrian people and resolve the Syrian crisis. We are all confident that you are aware of the efforts being made by the Supreme Negotiating Committee to ensure the success of the political process aimed at finding a solution to the Syrian question.

In that connection, the Supreme Negotiating Committee met on 26 January 2016 and sought to arrive at outcomes that strengthen the country, preserve its unity and safeguard the interests of its people.

The Supreme Negotiating Committee therefore is favourably disposed to participation in negotiations that would lead to the commencement of a political process to bring about a political solution to the Syrian crisis. The terms of reference for such negotiations should be the Geneva communique of 30 June 2012 and Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), and the solution should be implemented through the establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive authorities. State institutions should be preserved while the military and the security agencies should be restructured. Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) should be implemented without any exceptions or selectivity on the ground before the negotiating sessions begin, particularly as regards the following:

Ending the siege of besieged areas, cities and towns
Humanitarian assistance should be delivered to all those who need it
Detainees, prisoners of conscience and persons, particularly women and children, detained pursuant to special laws or laws that do not accord with human rights principles should be released
All attacks against civilians and civilian targets must be halted, as must the indiscriminate use of weapons, including artillery shelling and aerial bombardment
Forced displacement and demographic change must be halted

The Supreme Negotiating Committee stresses that countering terrorism must not override implementation of the provisions of the Geneva communique of 30 June 2012 in the manner noted above.

Given the desire to ensure the success of negotiations, the international community, represented by the Security Council, must do everything possible to end all illegal measures that impede implementation of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), regardless of whether those measures are taken by the Syrian regime or its allies.

The Supreme Negotiating Committee will communicate its detailed observations regarding the invitation letter through your Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura.

We hope that you will give our letter due attention, so as to give impetus to the efforts of the international community to start the process aimed at achieving a political solution that fulfils the aspirations of the Syrian people through the implementation of authoritative international resolutions.

(Signed) Riyad Hijab
General Coordinator, Supreme Negotiating Committee

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28Jan16

Position of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces on the Geneva conference on Syria