The nine-month-long assault by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military and security forces amounts to crimes against humanity, she said, recommending that it was now time for the fifteen-nation UNSC to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The High Commissioner told the Council that although the UN had taken some steps, more were necessary, including compelling the Syrian government to allow independent monitoring bodies and humanitarian actors into the country to assess the situation.
She added, “Inaction by the international community will embolden the Syrian authorities, and ensure the perpetrators go unpunished.”
“Syriaphobia”
Following the briefing, which was closed to the public, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters, “It is necessary for those countries in the Security Council that are still hesitating to change their mind.”
Permanent UN Representatives from France, Germany, Portugal, and the UK, echoed the foreign minister’s call to action. In November, a European-drafted resolution, which raised the specter of political and economic sanctions if Syrian authorities failed to cease violence and enact reforms within thirty days, was double vetoed by Russia and China.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, president of the Security Council for the month of December, followed his European colleagues at the flag-flanked microphone outside Security Council chambers and declared confidently that “the only resolution on the table is the joint Russia-Chinese track.” It calls on Damascus to implement promised reforms, demands both sides to cease fighting, but makes no mention of punitive or coercive actions.
He then warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of attempts by Western countries and the High Commissioner to push Syria toward civil war. “No Human Rights High Commissioner is going to be able to help under those circumstances,” he said.
Dr. Bashar Jaafari, Damascus’s UN Ambassador, said that Ms. Pillay and the UNSC’s Western bloc were “infected with a disease called Syriaphobia” and engaged in a “huge conspiracy concocted against Syria since the beginning.”
He continued, saying that Barbara Walters - a U.S.-based broadcast journalist who conducted an interview with President Assad on December 7th - had “distorted the truth ... cut off all positive answers of the president.”Over the weekend, Ms. Pillay said her office received as yet confirmed reports that “soldiers, tanks and artillery were ... seen heading to the city [of Homs],” digging trenches around the city and setting up checkpoints between neighborhoods to inhibit residential movement. “Internet and electricity have been cut in some neighborhoods” and “snipers are reported to be present,” she added.
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5000 Dead as Syria Nears Civil War
December 13, 2011
The nine-month-long assault by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military and security forces amounts to crimes against humanity, she said, recommending that it was now time for the fifteen-nation UNSC to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The High Commissioner told the Council that although the UN had taken some steps, more were necessary, including compelling the Syrian government to allow independent monitoring bodies and humanitarian actors into the country to assess the situation.
She added, “Inaction by the international community will embolden the Syrian authorities, and ensure the perpetrators go unpunished.”
“Syriaphobia”
Following the briefing, which was closed to the public, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters, “It is necessary for those countries in the Security Council that are still hesitating to change their mind.”
Permanent UN Representatives from France, Germany, Portugal, and the UK, echoed the foreign minister’s call to action. In November, a European-drafted resolution, which raised the specter of political and economic sanctions if Syrian authorities failed to cease violence and enact reforms within thirty days, was double vetoed by Russia and China.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, president of the Security Council for the month of December, followed his European colleagues at the flag-flanked microphone outside Security Council chambers and declared confidently that “the only resolution on the table is the joint Russia-Chinese track.” It calls on Damascus to implement promised reforms, demands both sides to cease fighting, but makes no mention of punitive or coercive actions.
He then warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of attempts by Western countries and the High Commissioner to push Syria toward civil war. “No Human Rights High Commissioner is going to be able to help under those circumstances,” he said.
Dr. Bashar Jaafari, Damascus’s UN Ambassador, said that Ms. Pillay and the UNSC’s Western bloc were “infected with a disease called Syriaphobia” and engaged in a “huge conspiracy concocted against Syria since the beginning.”
He continued, saying that Barbara Walters - a U.S.-based broadcast journalist who conducted an interview with President Assad on December 7th - had “distorted the truth ... cut off all positive answers of the president.”Over the weekend, Ms. Pillay said her office received as yet confirmed reports that “soldiers, tanks and artillery were ... seen heading to the city [of Homs],” digging trenches around the city and setting up checkpoints between neighborhoods to inhibit residential movement. “Internet and electricity have been cut in some neighborhoods” and “snipers are reported to be present,” she added.
