The UN Security Council urged the Syrian government to protect all Syrians (Getty)
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned the recent executions of Syrian civilians and urged transition authorities to respect everyone, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
In a statement, the council said since March 6, it has condemned the “massive killing of civilians” and widespread violence in Western Syria, particularly among the Alawian community, among the Alawian community associated with the exiled dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said civilians were killed in “executions by security forces and alliance groups” after Assad’s loyalists launched a rebellion against the new Syrian government.
The Security Council said it “expressed serious concern over the impact of this violence on the growing tensions among Syrian communities, calling on all political parties to halt all violence and inflammatory activity and ensure that all civilians, civil infrastructure and humanitarian operations are protected.”
“The Security Council is calling on interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion,” the statement issued on behalf of the council, said the ambassador read it from Denmark, the current chairman.
Since Assad was expelled in December, many Alawites have lived in fear of retaliation for his brutal rule.
The new violence began last Thursday, with clashes occurring after Assad began to clash with gunmen gradual attacks on new security forces.
Ahmad Al-Shara, interim president who led the Sunni Muslim group Hayat Tahri al-Sham (HTS), who overthrew Assad, vowed to indict the people behind the “blood of civilians” and established a fact-finding committee.
HTS, a derivative of the former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, is still banned as a terrorist organization by several governments, including the United States.
Since the outbreak of Syrian civil war in 2011, the Security Council has largely been restrained in conflict as Russia repeatedly used its veto to protect Assad’s regime.
However, things have changed since his expulsion as the text released on Friday was jointly prepared by Russia and the United States.
In December, the council urged Syria to engage in a comprehensive political process involving all communities as they attempt to put Assad behind for years. Friday’s statement repeated the appeal.
