U.N Security Council Fiddles While Syria Burns
Thalif Deen
Don Kraus, chief executive officer of Citizens for Global Solutions, which has been closely monitoring the crisis in Syria, told IPS, "International cooperation is essential to resolve global challenges, building a safer, more secure world."
He said U.S. and other Security Council members should push a resolution with tough sanctions on the Assad regime.
Even if Russia or China chooses to veto this motion, he said, a strong majority vote by other Security Council members will send a clear message to President Assad and his cronies that they will inevitably face consequences for their actions.
While there is room for the Security Council to evaluate lessons learned from how the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) implemented the Responsibility to Protect in Libya, punishing unarmed protestors and innocent civilians in Syria is not an appropriate way for member states to address concerns, said Kraus.
"A vetoed resolution will allow member states to shame Russia, China, or any other permanent Security Council member that uses its veto privilege to protect perpetrators of mass atrocities," he said.
By doing so, he noted, they become just as guilty as those who pull the trigger.
Kraus also said that Security Council members have a choice. "Either they stop using the veto in situations dealing with mass atrocities, or they can maintain their status as controlling members of a body that will become increasingly irrelevant," he declared.
Meanwhile the NGO coalition, including international human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch, AVAAZ and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with national organisations from Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Qatar, Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Syria, calls on the League of Arab States (LAS) to bring an end to the ongoing basic human rights violations in Syria.