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?”

UN Agency: Iran Still Working Towards A-Bomb

Indications are that Iran has been working on technologies specific to nuclear weaponry, says a long awaited report from the UN Nuclear energy agency.

The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency outlines four activities allegedly carried out by Iranian regime it says are relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device and comes as Israeli officials continue public musings about possible military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The four activities the agency found evidence for are:  

1)Efforts, some successful, to procure nuclear related and dual use equipment and materials by military related individuals and entities

2)Efforts to develop undeclared pathways for the production of nuclear material

3)The acquisition of nuclear weapons development information and documentation from a clandestine nuclear supply network

4)Work on the development of an indigenous design of a nuclear weapon including the testing of components 

The report findings, which had been expected after excerpts where leaked to various news agencies over the past few days, will likely get wide and repeated use as evidence of Iran’s nuclear aims as US and Europe attempt convince the international community to further isolate the regime in Tehran. 

Iranian authorities deny they are developing their nuclear program for military purposes and allege Western countries are using the issue to push their own political interest. 

Iranian broadcaster Press TV says the country’s government has rejected the report as “unbalanced” and “politically motivated”. 

The Russian Federation has reportedly also criticized the IAEA report. Bloomberg News is reporting that an emailed statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry argues that the IAEA findings are politically dishonest, and that the timing of the reports undermines security in the region. 

The IAEA says information for the report was collected from independent sources, IAEA officials, the Iranian government and from more than 10 other unidentified UN member states. 

NATO's UN Mandate in Libya To Expire Monday

The United Nations Security Council today agreed to lift its mandate authorizing military action in Libya, ending the UN-backed NATO mission to the country on October 31 2011.

The decision comes after Libya’s rebel forces declared liberation late last week and are currently in the process of forming a transitional government. Yesterday, Libya’s representative at the UN Ibrahim Dabbashi said his country supported the October 31 end date, but asked Council members to wait until his government had finished evaluating Libya’s security situation before making a final decision.

The extent to which the international community and Western countries will help Libya deal with security concerns after more than eight months of civil strife remains unclear. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant confirmed that his government was in talks about providing security assistance to Libya’s National Transitional Council, but said the forms that assistance might take had yet to be determined.

The Security Council passed resolution 1973 in March after Col. Gaddafi promised large scale military action against towns and villages that had fallen in the hands of anti-government protesters. The resolution allowed for airstrikes to protect civilian populations under the threat of attack, but held provisions against the deployment of foreign troops on the ground.

But NATO’s implementation of the resolution has been criticized by Council members like Russia and South Africa, who say it exceeded its protection of civilian mandate by arming rebels and aiming to overthrow the Gaddafi regime.

Earlier this month, Russia used its veto to block a resolution condemning Syrian government violence against civilians, arguing that the Libyan resolution had raised important concerns about the implementation and interpretation of Council actions.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin today welcomed the decision to end NATO’s mandate, but said the Council had to learn from its mistakes in Libya if it wanted member states to work closely together in the future.

“We believe that numerous violations of resolution 1973 have taken place in the course of the past few months, we have repeatedly discussed that in the Security Council,” he told reporters outside the Council. “We’ve had a number of grievances we continue to have them in terms of the effectiveness and legality of the work of the Security Council.”

US Ambassador Susan Rice defended NATO’s interpretation of the UN mandate and dismissed any link between the Syrian and Libyan situations.

“The effort to use Libya as an excuse not to act in other contexts is not a fair one or an accurate one. It was very clear, as we discussed and negotiated resolution 1973 what the authorization of the use of force to protect civilians would entail.” she said “Undoubtedly as this unfolded and occurred over the course of some months, there were those that found increasingly uncomfortable what it was they had agreed to. But to suggest somehow they were mislead, is false.”

Boehner Critical Of Obama's "Reset" Policy With Russia

By Lisa Kellman

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned Americans of the threats Russia poses to the country, despite President Obama’s 2009 “reset” policy and insisted the Commander-in-Chief reconsider.

“The United States should insist Russia ‘reset’ its own policies. If those appeals require teeth, the House stands ready to approve them,” Boehner said during a rare speech on foreign policy.

Boehner’s many grievances with Russia range from the nation’s political, economical and physical expansion to the nationalization of its industries. The House Speaker also expressed concern over the relationship Russia has with dangerous regimes and its “general lack of democratic values.”

The Ohio Republican said Russia’s reappointment of Vladimir Putin aspresident who has called the fall of the Soviet Union “the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the 20th century,” has only served to reinforce concerns.

“Instead of downplaying Russia’s disregard for democratic values and human rights, we should call on them and call them out on it, publicly, forcefully and frequently,” Boehner said. “The United States should Insist Russia reset its own policies and if those appeals require teeth, the House is ready to approve them.”

China, Russia Block UN Resolution on Syria

After months of negotiations, UN Security Council members tonight failed to agree on a resolution condemning the Syrian government’s violent response to protests, with permanent members China and Russia using their veto to scrap the Western backed text. 

US Ambassador Susan Rice told Security Council members the Obama administration was outraged by the Council’s failure to address an “urgent moral challenge” and “a growing threat to regional peace and security”.

Nine Council members, including the US, France, UK, Portugal and Germany, voted in favor of the draft, while Lebanon, India, South Africa and Brazil chose to abstain.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told Council members his country’s decision to veto the proposed resolution wasn’t based on Russia’s strategic ties to the Syrian government or support of the crackdown against civilian protesters, but was instead a rejection of the West’s “philosophy of confrontation”.

 “We can’t agree with this unilateral accusatory bent against Damascus. We believe it unacceptable the threat of an ultimatum of sanctions against the Syrian authorities.” he said

Churkin also said Western countries had failed to take into account Moscow’s demand that foreign military intervention be clearly ruled out of the resolution.

Russia and several other Council members have criticized the NATO backed mission to Libya for exceeding its mandate of civilian protection by targeting non-military infrastructure and trying to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. 

“The situation in Syria cannot be considered in the Council apart from the Libyan experience. The international community is alarmed by statements that compliance with Security Council resolutions in Libya, in the NATO interpretation, is a model for future actions for NATO in implementing responsibility to protect.”  Churkin told Council members.

US Ambassador Rice said the Syrian people could now see which countries were ignoring their calls for democracy and siding with dictators.

“Those who oppose this resolution and give cover to a brutal regime will have to answer to the Syrian people and indeed to people across the region who are pursuing the same universal aspirations.” 

Rice also dismissed Russia’s claims about NATO’s  interpretation of the Libyan resolution and that the vetoed resolution could have been a pretext for military intervention in Syria.

“This is not about military intervention. This is not about Libya. That is a cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”