Russia, backed by China, vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on May 22 that would have empowered the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate the terrible contagion of war crimes in Syria.
This was Russia’s fourth veto of a Security Council resolution dealing with the Syrian civil war, which broke out three years ago in March, has claimed the lives of close to 160,000 Syrians and is destroying Syria day by day.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, shamelessly described the resolution as “a publicity stunt.”
By contrast, the UN’s deputy secretary-general, Jan Eliasson, struck a serious and sober note: “If members of the Security Council continue to be unable to agree on a measure that would provide some accountability for the ongoing crimes, the credibility of this body and the entire organization will continue to suffer.”
France, which sponsored the resolution, was understandably upset and disappointed by Russia’s and China’s obstructionism. Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the UN, correctly compared their votes to “vetoing justice.”
Both sides in this bitter and protracted conflict, the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the various rebel groups fighting to topple his dictatorial Baathist regime, have committed atrocities. But Assad’s regime, supported by a conventional army and air force with superior fire power, has been the worst offender by far.
The Syrian armed forces have ruthlessly bombarded civilian areas with absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life. As Araud put it a few days ago, “What is happening in Syria is beyond simple fighting. You have torture on an industrial scale. You have barrel bombs, missiles, chemical weapons.”
In the interests of preserving his minority Alawite regime, Assad has conducted a savage war against his own people. And Russia, supported by China, Iran and Hezbollah, has been complicit in Assad’s war crimes. Apart from protecting Assad at the UN, Russia has supplied his armed forces with the latest weapons in its arsenals.
As Churkin claimed the other day, Moscow is trying to resolve the crisis in Syria. But it cannot be truly resolved unless Assad abdicates and leaves the country as soon as possible. Yet Russia has thrown its considerable weight behind Assad’s outrageous attempt to legitimize his rule by means of a presidential election on June 3. There has not been a real democratic election in Syria in decades, if ever, and next month’s election will be a sham as well.
The only good news coming out of Syria these days is that Syria is abiding by a Security Council resolution, passed last September, to eradicate its stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction by June 30. Yesterday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons disclosed that the final batch of Syrian chemicals is now ready to be transported to the port of Latakia for disposal.
In the meantime, the war in Syria rages on, with all its destructive consequences. And so it is incumbent on the international community to find a way to punish the perpetrators of these war crimes. Assad and company must be held accountable for their horrible misdeeds.