Paris – Statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies held a forum entitled ‘Why Are the Syrian Presidential Elections Illegitimate?’ via the Zoom platform, hosting Mr. Fadel Abdul Ghany, Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), Ms. Alia Mansour, a writer on political affairs, and lawyer Mohammad Sabra, with the journalist Dima Wannous managing and moderating the dialogue.
Mr. Fadel Abdul Ghany described these elections as farcical, and talked about the importance of challenging and confronting them, pointing out that they violate the resolutions regarding Syria issued by the international community, represented by the UN Security Council, in particular Resolution No. 2118 and Resolution No 2254, which clearly stipulate that the solution to the internal armed conflict is the formation of a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers with representation from both the regime and the opposition, which could then create a new constitution, and only then hold parliamentary and presidential elections based on this new constitution. Mr. Abdul Ghany noted that Resolution 2254 was adopted in 2015, i.e. after the previous presidential elections held in June 2014, adding that in the period since those sham elections up until April 2021 the Syrian Network for Human Rights had recorded the deaths of 47,967 civilians, including 8,762 children and 5,309 women, at the hands of Syrian regime forces, referring to the report issued by the Syrian Network for Human Rights on April 26, 2021, which addressed the illegitimacy of the planned elections, and outlined the most notable human rights violations committed by the Syrian regime since the previous elections.