The third committee of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on November 14 regarding the human rights violation in Iran, North Korea and Syria. The resolution was originally brought up by Saudi Arabia.
The UN called Bashar al-Assad’s regime responsible for the deaths of 400 thousand Syrians. The UN deemed the authorities responsible for using hunger as means of war, chemical weapons and escalating ethnic and religious enmity in the country.
The resolution was voted in favor by 108 countries, with 17 countries voting against (with Russia among them) and 58 representatives abstained from voting. Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari said that the resolution was a part of Riyadh’s campaign against Syria. According to data provided by Jaafari, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have spent $137 billion to support terrorism in Syria in order to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
According to Jaafari, the “dictatorial regime” of Saudi Arabia “has no right to speak of human rights violations, until it properly addresses accusations of its own human rights violations.”
Despite declaring itself a champion for human rights, Saudi Arabia is a serious offender in this regard, particularly when women rights are concerned. For example, women were not allowed to drive until recently, and they still may be legally stoned to death in case of adultery. Saudi Arabia also applies capital punishment for homosexuality, apostasy, atheism and blasphemy. Human Rights Watch has also repeatedly slammed the country for its human rights record, stating that out of more than nine million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, which constitutes half of the workforce, many suffer abuse and exploitation “amounting to conditions of forced labor.”
