UN Security Council Statement Condemns Syrian Repression

 The UN Security Council has condemned the use of force against protesters and called for an immediate end to the violence in the country.The statement comes after days of closed door consultations among Security Council members and apparently after the continued repression in Syria overcame opposition to a Security Council statement from Russia and China.

“The Security Council condemns the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities.” reads the statement “ The Security Council calls for an immediate end to all violence and urges all sides to act with utmost restraint, and to refrain from reprisal, including attacks against state institutions.” 

Local rights group say over 1600 people have been killed and at least 12 000 more arrested since violence broke out over 5 months ago.

Security Council members have been divided in their approach to Syria since the start of anti-government protests.

Russia and China both opposed earlier Western backed attempts to pass a Security Council statement, arguing that President Assad’s had made political reforms and that Security Council involvement could further destabilize the region.

But last weeks surge in violence against protesters in the lead up to Ramadan in Hama and in suburbs of Damascus, where rights activists say hundreds of protesters where killed, seemingly made the Council’s inaction harder to defend. 

Rights groups like Amnesty International had hoped the Council would agree to a resolution, not a weaker Presidential statement, but US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters via conference call that she didn’t think the Council’s decision to issue a Presidential statement rather than a resolution was a concession, and that ultimately:  “what was more important was strong content and a clear and unified condemnation. We didn’t want a split Council an we didn’t want a weak statement.”

Rice said she believed the Assad regime would be surprised and disappointed by the Council’s ability to agree and said she hoped the Assad government would be “chastened by the strength and the unity of the condemnation.”

Today’s statement also calls of Syria authorities to allow humanitarian group unrestricted access to affected areas. UN humanitarian agencies continue to be shut out of the country as are most international media outlets.

In April, in an attempt to calm growing unrest, President Bashar al-Assad introduced political reform measures he said met the legitimate demands of the Syrian people. But Assad’s reforms have mostly been rejected by Syrian activists and Western leaders as insufficient.Today’s statement once again notes Assad’s reform agenda, but “regrets the lack of progress in implementation”.