Russia Blasts UN Rights Council Resolution on Syria, Defends Arms Sales

Russia and China continue to obstruct and criticize international attempts to address the situation in Syria. On Friday, Russian diplomats criticized a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Syria as an open appeal to military intervention.

The UN rights body resolution passed by a 37-4 margin, with China, Russia, Cuba and Ecuador voting against and six other countries abstaining. Russia’s envoy at the Geneva based body said the resolution was a one sided, politicized attempt to exacerbate the conflict. 

“We are particularly concerned at a number of provisions in the draft which could be interpreted as an open appeal to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs allowing for military actions including military intervention.” Ambassador Valery Loschinin told Council members after the vote.

Loschinin argued the resolution placed full blame on the Syrian government, while ignoring serious crimes carried out by armed anti-government protesters.

But UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay warned that failure to stop the Assad government’s “ruthless repression” could drive Syria into full out civil war. 

“The international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people.”she told Rights Council members. 

On Monday, a UNHRC mandated investigation concluded Syrian security forces had committed crimes against humanity against the country’s civilian population since anti-government protests broke out back in March. The report says the scale and patterns of attack indicates Assad government officials authorized or had knowledge of security force operations. 

Pillay says over 4 000 people have been killed since March, and more than 14 000 remain detained for their alleged role in the uprising. 

The UN rights chief also renewed her earlier calls for the Security Council to refer the Syrian situation to the International Criminal Court. 

But Russia’s Ambassador says his country does not consider the Assad government’s actions to be war crimes. 

 “We believe that there are no basis for calling Damascus’s activities crimes against humanity . In any event, this goes beyond the mandate of the Council.” 

 Loschinin said the Council mandated report on Syria was flawed, mainly because investigators weren’t allowed into the country to verify the situation first hand and instead had to rely on witness testimonies. 

In a statement this afternoon, American Ambassador Susan Rice welcomed the resolution  as part of the “ever expanding chorus of condemnation of the Asad regime’s brutality.”

 Rice said she was pleased all seven of the Rights Council’s Arab members had supported the resolution and that the Obama administration would continue to lead efforts to assist the Syrian people.

However it seems unlikely those efforts will result in Security Council sanctions Syrian opposition groups and Western governments have been calling for.

In October, Russia vetoed a European and US backed Security Council resolution on Syria, arguing Western powers would use it to justify military intervention.  

At the time, US Ambassador Susan Rice said the argument about preventing military intervention was:”a cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”

Last week, the League of Arab States announced it had suspend Syrian from the organization and imposed its own set of sanctions against the Assad government.

In a press conference today marking Russia’s Presidency of the Security Council for the month of December, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his government believes the Arab League’s recent actions are counter-productive. 

 “Its very disconcerting that it may damage the opportunity for the Arab League to play a mediating role and a pacifying role in the Syrian situation.”

Churkin also defended Russia’s weapons sales to Syria, arguing that Russia was a minor player in the international arms market compared to some other states and that all transactions were “guided by international norms, rules and laws.” 

“With Syria in particular we have arrangements which would not allow those weapons to be used by those who are not suppose to have them.” Churkin said. “You look at the region and you see reports that this particular country has signed for 120 billion dollars! Lets see things in perspective. If you go ahead and supply 120 Billion dollars of weapons to the region, why should you be worrying  about somebody supplying a few million dollars worth of military hardware?”

ICC Meets With Rebels Over Fate of Gaddafi Son

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo was in Tripoli today to discuss how local officials intend to proceed with the detention of Saif Gaddafi,who faces charges before the ICC.

 Gaddafi was captured by rebel fighter in Libya’s southern desert Saturday and is reportedly being held in an undisclosed location in the city of Zintan.

 The International Criminal Court indicted Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al Islam and spy chief Abdullah Al Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity in June, after the UN Security Council requested the court investigate the Gaddafi regime’s response to anti-government protests.

Transitional authorities have already indicated they want Saif and Al Senussi to be tried in-country, but rights groups have voiced serious concern over Libya’s ability to meet international legal standards.

“The issue of where the trials will be held has to be resolved through consultations with the Court. In the end, the ICC judges will decide, there are legal standards which will have to be adhered to,” Moreno said in a statement today.

Human Rights Watch says Libya needs to follow appropriate judicial procedure if it wants to try Saif Gaddafi domestically, but that in the meantime, transitional officials have a legal obligation to hand Saif Gaddafi over to the ICC. The group says it has documented several cases of detainee abuse by anti-Gaddafi fighters. 

 “The apparent killing in custody of Muammar Gaddafi and his son Muatassim Gaddafi on October 20 are particular cause for concern about Saif al-Islam’s treatment.” Human Rights Watch said on its website. “The Libyan authorities will have to show that they are genuinely able and willing to prosecute the case in fair and credible proceedings. Demonstrating an ability to fairly prosecute Saif al-IslamGaddafi would likely require swift and substantial reform of the judicial system” 

On Sunday, media reports suggested Abdullah Al Senussi had also been captured but his arrest has yet to be confirmed by Libyan officials.

In Visit To UN, Ivorian President Promises Justice

Ivory Coast’s new President Alassane Ouattara says his government will spare no efforts to investigate crimes that were committed during the country’s post electoral crisis, even if they implicate his own supporters or troops, he told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York. 

 “We don’t want to accept impunity in Cote d’Ivoire, we will have reconciliation on one track but the judicial system will do its work on the other track. Justice will be for everyone the same, no distinction.” he told reporters.

 Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s 2010 election, made his first visit to the world body since UN backed forces help drive out his opponent and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo in April. 

 Gbagbo refused to recognize the results of the country’s November 2010 Presidential elections, and for more than five months his security forces directed attacks against opponents and the UN presence in Ivory Coast. Ouattara’s forces were eventually able to capture Gbagbo in April, after a French military unit carried out a strikes against his compound.

 During the crisis, humanitarian groups documented serious rights violations and war crimes, allegedly carried out by militias loyal to both Presidential candidates.

Ouattara told reporters he’s already asked the Hague based International Criminal Court for help investigating possible crimes against humanity committed after the November 2010 election but said investigations into economic crimes committed by the former President and his entourage would be held in an Ivorian based court.

He said that only crimes and rights abuses carried after the November 2010 election would be investigated. 

Initial reports following Gbagbo’s capture indicated he and his wife had been mistreated, but Ouattara told reporters he was being held respectfully and awaiting trial at one of his former Presidential residences. 

 Ouattara says that besides the reconciliation of his country’s political factions, his government will need to work hard to rebuild the economy and organize new elections before the end of the year.

“This year, because of the post electoral crisis, our economy will drop by 7 %, so this needs massive support.” said Ouattara, a former IMF official.  “From developing savings, good governance to better spend our money and also financial support from the world.“

Ouattara is scheduled to meet President Obama on Friday to discuss how the US can best support Ivory Coast in its transition. 

US Works to Change Of Relations With Sudan Must Be A Priority

By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service

The Obama Administration is working on new foreign policy initiatives to strengthen relations between the U.S. and Sudan.

The press conference organized yesterday by the Salam Sudan Foundation stressed that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 ended a fifty year long conflict between the North and South of Sudan and that it was supposed to normalize U.S.-Sudan relations something that has not yet been done.

“We must engage more honest conversations here, in Sudan and globally about how to connect our increasingly diverse communities across differences of race, class, religion, politics and culture,” said Dr. Hashim El-Tinay, President of the SSF. He added that the international community should “let the Sudanese show the world, as the Americans have done, their commitment to justice, peace, democracy, human rights and development.”

Since the 9/11 attacks, the Sudan has cooperated with the U.S. in its fight against international terrorism yet it remains on the state sponsors of terrorism list. In 2007, economic sanctions were voted on Sudan after the Bush Administration considered the country to be accomplice in the violence occuring in the Darfur region.

“The policy gap could only be addressed if adequate knowledge is received,” said Sulayman Nyang, Professor at Howard University, adding that “the Darfurian issue should not be used against the Sudanese government.” Getting information from organizations like the SSF would help and change the debate in Washington and elsewhere.

The rest of the conference was devoted to the criticism of external groups to the conflict which are bringing more harm than help to the Sudanese people. For example, when the U.S. based Save Darfur Coalition (SDC) charged the government of Omar al-Bachir with intending to carry out genocide against the insurgents, it brought hostility and skepticism from the local population to foreign entities.

Mae King, another Professor from Howard University, observed that the U.S. is the only country to have declared that a genocide was being committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. “No one would question that there has been serious violations of human rights in Darfur, of course there have,” said King, and pointed out that the African Union as well as the United Nations have not found evidence of genocide.

For these reasons, Professor King complained that the indictment of Omar al-Bachir by the International Criminal Court was more of a political act than a legal one.

McGovern calls for military options in Darfur

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

One week after thirteen international aid organizations were expelled from Darfur, and one day after President Obama named Former General J. Scott Gration as a special envoy to Sudan, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that military options to stop the genocide should not be ruled out. These military options could come to fruition as a no-fly zone. McGovern hopes the Obama administration’s diplomacy can prevail, but went on to say that time is running out and that Obama should work with NATO, the African Union, and the Arab League to stop the violence immediately, since more people are dying each day.

The Congressman said, “What we have done up to this point has not worked.” He said that genocide, violence, and rape are continuing, and now the government is “going to starve people to death.” McGovern went on to say that the Sudanese government is “determined to kill the people of Darfur” and drew similarities between the situation and the Holocaust

The Save Darfur Coalition said that since the aid organizations were expelled by President Omar al-Bashir, approximately 1.1 million civilians have been left without food aid, 1.5 million without health care, and almost 1 million without drinking water. In the crisis at large, the United Nations states that since 2003 over 200,000 people have been killed, and over 2 million people have been displaced.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled the aid organizations after being indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) charged, “this expulsion of aid workers further confirms the legitimacy of the indictment,” and that the president is guilty as charged.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) continued that he thinks there is no “political will” right now to send more troops into harm’s way considering America’s presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and feels that African Union forces should be left to do the job. African Union troops have unsuccessfully tried to quell the violence in the past. Smith said he believes a renewed effort by the African Union forces will yield better results.