{"id":322,"date":"2011-08-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=322","title":{"rendered":"UN Security Council must act to end repression in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nUN
\nSecurity Council must act to end repression in Syria<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy Salil
\nShetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n10
\nAugust 2011 <\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nMajd Al
\nKurdy was a junior member of Syria’s ruling Baath party in the small town of Tell
\nKalakh near the border with Lebanon. One day in May, at an anti-government
\ndemonstration, he took a megaphone and announced to the crowd “I announce my
\nresignation from the corrupt Ba’th Party!”<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDays later,
\non 17 May, Syrian forces dragged Majd out of the house he was hiding in. It was
\ntwo weeks before his family heard any news of him.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe
\nauthorities handed over his body in a nylon sack. It was clear he had been
\ntortured before his death. His face was severely disfigured and his chest and thighs
\nhad been cut, and there were what seemed to be gunshot wounds on the back of his
\nlegs.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nGiven the
\nweight of evidence that suggests that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s government has
\ncommitted crimes against humanity, possibly including in the last few days in
\nHama, it is frustrating that the UN Security Council remains unable to react
\nadequately to the carnage.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOver 1500
\npeople have died during the months-long onslaught by security forces against
\noverwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations, yet the UN Security Council’s only
\nreaction so far came on 3 August when it adopted a non-binding “presidential
\nstatement” that, while condemning widespread violations by the regime, merely
\ncalls on the authorities to make good on their own commitments to reform..<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Council’s
\nimpotence in relation to Syria stands in stark contrast with the quick and
\ndecisive action it took in the case of Libya. 
\n<\/span>But, in fact, it is the aftermath of its resolution on Libya that has
\nparalyzed the Council.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPermanent
\nCouncil members Russia and China, joined by temporary members South Africa, Brazil
\nand India, say Western members have gone beyond the mandate in resolution 1973
\non Libya by supporting the opposition and seeking “regime change” in
\nTripoli.  <\/span>They suspect the proponents of
\na rather weak draft resolution on Syria
\n– mainly the United Kingdom
\nand France – of wanting to
\ndo the same with Damascus
\nand have pledged to thwart them, which has effectively granted the Syrian
\nregime a pass to continue the repression.<\/p>\n

But why should the Syrian people pay the price – in lives, displacement,
\ntorture and other ill treatment – of this political dispute among Council
\nmembers?  <\/span>It is perfectly legitimate to
\nquestion what lies behind any measures on Syria
\nproposed by France, the UK,
\nthe US
\nor others.  <\/span>But that something must be
\ndone to stop the carnage in Syria
\nis also beyond doubt.<\/p>\n

If they suspect Western countries of ulterior motives, it is the responsibility
\nof countries like South
\nAfrica – a state aspiring to global
\nleadership – to engage with other Council members to try to ensure that any
\nresolution adopted serves only to protect civilians.  <\/span>To date, however, the three temporary members
\n– let alone China and Russia, who have their own reasons for curbing
\naction on Syria
\n– have not proposed any credible alternative and refuse even to discuss the
\ntext of the draft resolution.<\/p>\n

The focus on South Africa, Brazil and India is not accidental.  <\/span>The three are part of the increasingly
\ninfluential BRICS grouping, together with China
\nand Russia.  <\/span>Unlike the last two, however South Africa, Brazil
\nand India
\nare vibrant democracies.  <\/span>They also have
\nrecent histories marked by popular struggles for human rights and freedoms,
\nwhich many in positions of leadership in all three countries remember or were
\neven a part of.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The three are uniquely positioned to steer an independent path in the Security
\nCouncil.  <\/span>They are strong enough to
\nresist political and economic pressures from the traditional power players and
\nhave regional, and even global, ambitions of their own.  <\/span>As free and open societies that cannot be
\naccused of harbouring neo-colonialist intentions, they arguably also enjoy more
\ncredibility and legitimacy when championing the human rights of people wherever
\nthey are trampled.  <\/span>Were they to support
\na Council resolution on Syria,
\nit is believed it would be difficult for China
\nand Russia
\nto use their veto.<\/p>\n

So far, however, South Africa,
\nBrazil and India have
\nfailed to exercise the leadership many expected of them.  <\/span>As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, the question
\nremains whether the three will continue in lockstep behind China and Russia or, together or
\nindividually, be strong and independent voices in the Council, defending
\ninternationally rights their own citizens should enjoy and which they consider
\nuniversal.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/livewire.amnesty.org\/2011\/08\/10\/un-security-council-must-act-to-end-repression-in-syria\/<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nBy Salil
\nShetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

Majd Al
\nKurdy was a junior member of Syria’s ruling Baath party in the small town of Tell
\nKalakh near the border with Lebanon. One day in May, at an anti-government
\ndemonstration, he took a megaphone and announced to the crowd “I announce my
\nresignation from the corrupt Ba’th Party!”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}