UN
Headquarters
New York City
October 31, 2005
(11:15 a.m. EST)
Thank
you, Mr. President.
Mr.
President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow members of the
Council, by passing Resolution 1636 this morning, we in
the United Nations have declared our support for the Commission's
search for truth, which is being ably led by Mr. Detlev
Mehlis. We have also affirmed our just demands of the
Syrian Government and made it clear that failure to comply
with these demands will lead to serious consequences from
the international community. There is a close link between
these two actions. For the past 30 years, Syria's occupation
of Lebanon penetrated all aspects of its society. Beginning
last year, however, Syria's interference became so corrupt
and unbearable that it began to galvanize opposition against
itself both within Lebanon and among the international
community. Late last August, the Syrian Government dictated
the extension of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's term
of office. In response, the international community acted,
though some on the Security Council did not want our actions
to single out Syria by name. Hence, in Resolution 1559,
this Council called for the withdrawal of all foreign
forces from Lebanon and summoned all states to respect
Lebanese sovereignty. When the Syrian Government met none
of these demands, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
a respected leader and admired philanthropist, resigned
his post in protest. Now, not four months later, Prime
Minister Hariri was assassinated in a terrorist bombing
that claimed the lives of 22 other people as well. After
mourning their murdered leader, one million Lebanese citizens
united in downtown Beirut to publicly call for truth and
justice and freedom from Syrian domination.
Again,
the international community acted. We supported the aspirations
of the Lebanese people, and helped them to compel Syria
to withdraw its military forces from the country. The
Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1595, which
established the UN International Independent Investigation
Commission to examine the crime and to identify the guilty.
We
have now received the Commission's interim report, and
its findings are deeply disturbing. We're told that there
is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian
involvement in this terrorist act. And we're told that
it would be difficult envisage a scenario whereby such
a complex assassination plot could have been carried out
without the knowledge of senior Syrian officials. We've
also learned that Syrian officials have sought to impede
this investigation by intentionally misleading the Commission,
including by providing false testimony.
Syria
has offered no truthful explanations to these serious
allegations. Instead, it has chosen, until now, to dismiss
the Commission report as politically motivated.
The Syrian Government has actively and consistently worked
to break the will of the Lebanese people and to thwart
the will of the international community. At this important
time, with this unanimous resolution today, the United
Nations is taking a step to hold Syria accountable for
any further failure to cooperate with the Commission's
investigations and to consider further action if necessary.
The
Chapter 7 resolution that we are passing today is the
only way to compel the Syrian Government to accept the
just demands of the United Nations and to cooperate fully
with the Mehlis investigation. With our decision today,
we show that Syria has isolated itself from the international
community through its false statements, its support for
terrorism, its interference in the affairs of its neighbors,
and its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East.
Now the Syrian Government needs to make a strategic decision
to fundamentally change its behavior. Until that day comes,
however, we in the international community must remain
united and we must remain resolute in our pursuit of truth,
our defense of justice, and our support of liberty for
the brave and courageous Lebanese people.
Thank
you very much, Mr. President.
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