PARIS, March 8 (UPI) -- A UNESCO resolution approved Thursday will keep Syria on the agency's human rights committee, though it condemned the Assad regime, UN Watch reported.
The Geneva, Switzerland-based UN Watch, a human rights monitoring organization, said the 35-8 executive board vote in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris would keep the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on the committee despite vigorous opposition by the United States and Britain.
"For UNESCO to keep President Bashar Assad on a human rights committee while his regime mercilessly murders its own people is simply immoral, indefensible and an insult to Syria's victims,"Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said. The human rights group heads a campaign of 55 parliamentarians, human rights and religious groups calling for Syria's expulsion.
"Today's appalling decision calls into question the credibility of UNESCO's mission to promote human rights, and Syria's membership is a lingering stain upon the reputation of the UN as a whole."
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UNESCO elected Syria to its human rights committee in November, UN Watch said. The human rights group then launched a campaign to reverse the decision, which in turn prompted U.S. and British efforts in Thursday's debate.
The U.S. permanent representative to UNESCO, Ambassador David Killion, told the agency, "The United States is profoundly disappointed that this resolution does not call for the outright removal of Syria from the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations -- something for which we have repeatedly called for. We agree with Director-General [Irina] Bokova that, given the actions of the Assad regime, it is not clear how Syria can contribute to the work of the committee. ... Nonetheless, we are pleased to have joined with our Arab League colleagues to decry the abuse and atrocities currently unfolding in Syria."
