GENEVA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The people of Syria are facing a huge humanitarian crisis, but militants and their sponsors are preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid and evacuation of civilians in Eastern Ghouta, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
Lavrov made the statement while addressing the high-level segment of the 37th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council here and was referring to UN Security Council Resolution 2401.
He said this outlines the framework for all parties to coordinate conditions for easing the suffering of civilians throughout Syria.
Lavrov was speaking four days after the UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding a ceasefire of at least 30 days across Syria that would allow humanitarian access and urgent medical evacuations.
"Russia and the Syrian government have announced the creation of humanitarian corridors in Eastern Ghouta" near Damascus, he said.
"But the militants and their sponsors are hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of all civilians who wish to leave, as well as continue to shell Damascus," said Lavrov.
He urged the "member states of the so-called U.S. coalition" to provide similar humanitarian access to the Syrian regions they control, including the Rukban refugee camp and the area around al-Tanf.
Lavrov said that an emergency mission from the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross must be dispatched to review the situation in Raqqa.
On the Human Rights Council, he said some UN members are preserving dividing lines "to add a political dimension to the council's operations."
"This prevents us from joining efforts to find answers to the common civilization challenges and to ensure genuine respect for the dignity and value of the individual," said Lavrov.
He said Russia considers the division of terrorists into "good" and "bad" unacceptable.
"Russia will continue to fight the detestable practice of double standards, in particular, by helping the Syrian Army eradicate the terrorist threat," said the Russian foreign minister.
He said the fight against terrorism needs to be based on the solid foundation of international law and national legislations.
"In this context, we are deeply concerned about the decision of the U.S. administration to keep open the Guantanamo Bay detention center, where the inmates who have been incarcerated without any trial are regularly tortured," said Lavrov.
