Every day we hear news of hardships and dire conditions suffered by tens of thousands of besieged Syrians. Now, reports posted by Foreignpolicy.com claim the regime has been able to hide this fact for months with the help of the UN, which was aware of the crisis as far as back as October.
One report claims a UN paper on the crisis was edited by the regime, not only eliminating all mention of the Syrians’ distress with the flagrant acceptance of the UN, but also references to mine-clearing efforts. The report even speculates that the UN may have agreed to such alterations in the report for fear of being booted out of Damascus.
If this is true, then the regime and the UN are partners in crime.
Another report obtained by Foreignpolicy.com cites a confidential memo from UN envoy Staffan de Mistura’s office highlighting the limits of the world body’s ability to effectively monitor and enforce any peace deal that might emerge from the Syria talks. It makes sense that this has been kept confidential, because if released and proven true, the remarks could be grounds for the termination of his job.
A more sinister implication is that the starvation and horrific massacres of women, children and the elderly were covered up and allowed to continue just to keep the regime engaged in the peace talks.
If these reports aren’t true, the UN must deny their validity. Otherwise accountability at the highest level is in order. And if that doesn’t happen, it will prove the whole UN body is a den of corruption and an instigator of wars and killings in order to justify its existence, under the eyes of the five superpowers and nearly 200 member states.
A probe into these charges is required, and if found to be true, heads must roll at the highest levels.
