Lavrov Meets ‘Peace and Freedom Front’ Headed by Jarba

Lavrov met a delegation of the Freedom and Peace Front in Moscow on Friday. Asharq Al-Awsat
Lavrov met a delegation of the Freedom and Peace Front in Moscow on Friday. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Lavrov Meets ‘Peace and Freedom Front’ Headed by Jarba

Lavrov met a delegation of the Freedom and Peace Front in Moscow on Friday. Asharq Al-Awsat
Lavrov met a delegation of the Freedom and Peace Front in Moscow on Friday. Asharq Al-Awsat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday met in Moscow for the first time a delegation from the Peace and Freedom Front to discuss the Syrian conflict.

The meeting is a sign that Moscow is taking an additional step towards expanding its role East of the Euphrates amid similar efforts made by the US in the region.

Established in June, the Peace and Freedom Front brings together four Syrian opposition entities. They are The Kurdish National Council in Syria, the Assyrian Democratic Organization, the Syrian Future Movement, and the Arab Council in Al-Jazeera and the Euphrates.

The delegation, headed by Ahmed Jarba held two meetings in the Russian capital, one with Lavrov and another with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

“Russia bets on the important role that the Front can play to push the political process forward in Syria,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.

Member of the delegation Wassef al-Rab told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Front stressed the importance of the unity and integrity of Syrian territories in line with UN Resolution 2254.

“The meeting was honest and constructive,” he said, adding that the two sides discussed the dire situation in Syria and the latest developments on finding a political solution to the country’s war.

The delegation gave a detailed explanation of the Front’s expectations.

Al-Rab also said the delegation called on the Russian government to use its influence to play an active role in the release of detainees and to reveal the fate of kidnapped and missing people.

The delegation asked for the voluntary return of refugees and to reject demographic changes in all Syrian regions.

It stressed the importance of ending the standoff and the need for a swift political solution.

Al-Rab revealed that the delegation would continue to discuss the latest developments in Syria with other parties, including the US and a number of EU states in addition to regional powers, like Turkey.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.