As the Olympic Games begin in Sochi, 47 signatories, including PHR board member, Justice Richard J. Goldstone, call on President Vladimir Putin of Russia to lead efforts to agree on a UN Security Council humanitarian resolution that calls for Syria’s parties to the conflict to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and open Syria’s conflict lines and borders to ensure aid reaches all those in need, including through local ceasefires.
The Olympic Games are intended to uphold the goals of peaceful coexistence, fair play, and a worldwide truce called for the duration of the Games. The world is blighted by conflict, but nowhere is the stark contrast with the spirit of the Games so apparent as in Syria. Russian leadership can deliver an Olympic opening that will make an immediate and dramatic difference to millions of innocent people in desperate need.