The drafting group of the Syrian constitutional committee (SCC), also called the small group, resumes its work in Geneva on Thursday after a break that has lasted since Monday, caused by the detection of the coronavirus in four participants in the discussions, the office of the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen reports.
"After consultations with the co-chairs and members of the Committee, the meetings will resume today at 14:00 local time (15:00 GMT - ed.) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva," the statement reads. It emphasizes that the decision to resume work was made after additional testing of participants and based on the recommendations of experts. The office of the Special envoy "has been officially informed by the competent health authorities that the nature of the identified cases [of the coronavirus] is such that the third meeting of the small SCC group can resume its meetings, with full social distance and appropriate precautionary measures."
The SCC drafting group met on August 24 at the UN's Geneva headquarters after a nearly nine-month break caused by the pandemic. It was planned that 45 delegates (15 each from the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society) would discuss the country's "national foundations and principles". However, by the evening of the same day, four members of the group were diagnosed with the coronavirus. In this regard, Pedersen decided to suspend work. Hadi al-Bahra, co-chair of the SCC from the opposition Syrian negotiating committee, told reporters that all members of the drafting group were quarantined for two to ten days in their hotel rooms.
The Syrian constitutional committee was formed in accordance with a resolution adopted in January 2018 in Sochi by the Congress of the Syrian national dialogue. It included 150 people (50 delegates each from Damascus, the opposition and civil society). The first meeting of the Committee was held in Geneva on 30 October last year. The drafting group created held two sessions in November. The second session ended on 29 November without results, as it was not possible to agree on the agenda. After that, the Committee did not meet because of the pandemic.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS