Last week a massive and coordinated attack against Syria took place simultaneously in three major UN agencies – the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council.
On September 26 the Syrian issue was tackled by Security Council at foreign ministers level. Formally the discussions were devoted to a concept paper circulated by Germany. The document was devoted to the cooperation between the UN Security Council and the League of Arab Nations in the wake of Arab Spring. The Arab League Secretary General and the representatives of the West used the United Nations Security Council as a platform to condemn Russia for resorting to its veto right. Supposedly that was the reason why the otherwise fruitful cooperation between the UN and the Arab League was blocked. In response Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said, «the developments in the Middle East and North Africa confirmed once again the need to respect the key principles of the United Nations Charter, above all respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, non-interference in their domestic affairs and non-use or threat of force» (p.13-14).
He also informed that on September 26 the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China South Africa) group made a joint statement to emphasize the role of the Geneva communiqué as a basis for finding a way out of the Syrian crisis unlike the Security Council draft resolutions that never came into force.
At the same time anti-Syrian activities started at the General Assembly session as well as in some Western and Arab capitals. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, stated that in view of UN Security Council’s failure to adopt the resolutions the Arab states should interfere themselves into Syria and they had everything necessary to do so. The UN «failure» was used as a pretext to destroy the UN structure. For instance, the foreign minister of Iceland said, «the truth is that the Security Council has become an obstacle to international efforts to address and solve situations such as in Syria». He added, «the Syrian problem is also a wake-up call for the UN with regard to the Security Council. Syria has demonstrated how arcane the Council is, and how out-of-tune it is with the needs of the modern world». Definitely the representative of Iceland talked about the abrogation of veto right that makes it possible that «one of its five permanent members can trump a decision by all 14 others».
Here Lavrov had to prove again that the legal basis for the Syrian crisis management did exist in the form of the Geneva agreement. The Russian minister called for all members of the Action Group to fully confirm the commitments that all of them had taken on in Geneva. Stressing that this was the shortest way to stop the loss of human life, Lavrov emphasized that those who opposed the implementation of the agreement took upon themselves «an enormous responsibility». He said that they, «insist on a ceasefire only by the government and encourage the opposition to intensify hostilities, but in fact they push Syria even deeper in the abyss of bloody internecine strife». The minister made remember that extremists had intensified their activities in Syria, including Al-Qaeda perpetrating terrorist acts against civilians and civil infrastructure.
On September 28 The United Nations Human Rights Council viewed the new report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. It voted to extend the mandate of the independent panel and to bring in new members into its composition. Besides the citizens of the US and Turkey (!), two new members joined – Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea and… Carla del Ponte, former the International Criminal Court’s former chief prosecutor! The Carla del Ponte’s long track record of charges fabrication speaks for itself.
The Council’s resolution contains rather tough language. It condemns «the continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities and the Government controlled militia Shabbiha, such as the use of heavy weapons and force against civilians, massacres, arbitrary executions, extrajudicial killings, the killing and persecution of protestors, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, interference with access to medical treatment, torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children, as well as any human rights abuses by armed opposition groups». Russia voted against (1). Before the vote the Russia’s representative said this time the member states had “almost found a compromise” pointing out that the current resolution was “more balanced” than the previous ones by also mentioning the fact of violence by opposition and condemning the terrorist acts committed by Syrian militants for the first time. But Russia, she said, could not accept some of the conclusions, including «one sided perspective on the Al-Houla massacre, while similar events were being ignored». The Russian representative pointed out the issue of Houla massacre responsibility remains open.
Thus, the past week was really«Arabic» in the UN…
Pseudo-language, permeated by lies, is being widely enrooted today. The term «Arab Spring» is already used in the UN Security Council for state coups and outside aggression meaning that we have entered the period of the Arab Autumn…
Speaking the language of real, not imaginary, values, the Arab Autumn is a symbol of historic involution of Arab world and the end of prominent role it played in the national liberation movement of colonial and dependent states in the second half of the XX century…
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(1) Besides Russia, China and Cuba also voted against the resolution. Ecuador, the Philippines and Uganda abstained. The document received 41 yes votes.
Source: Strategic Culture Foundation
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