Ban Looks Back at Arab Spring in 2011

The United Nations lent its support to the aspirations of Arab Spring protesters in 2011, speaking forcefully against government repression through out the region and playing an essential role in the liberation of Libya, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said during an end of year press conference today. 

“This has been a remarkable year, in terms of our commitment to help those people who have been oppressed.” he said “Of course more needs to be done. It is quite sad and tragic that so many people have lost their lives and have been wounded in the course of these demonstrations and expressing their freedom of speech and aspirations.”

Ban, who will begin his second term as UN Secretary General in the new year, compared the Arab Spring uprisings to the independence movements of the 1950’s and the unification of Germany in the 1980’s. He said the UN needed to continue engaging with countries affected by important political and social change and urged greater cooperation to address the situation in Syria. 

 “ I hope the United Nations and international community will be able to take constructive and coherent action.” he said, adding that he also welcomed recent steps by the Arab League to condemn the violence. 

 Ban said he was increasingly concerned by humanitarian conditions and recent developments in Syria.

On Monday, after the Security Council was briefed by Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pilay, European and American diplomats blasted other Council members for failing to support a strong resolution against the Assad government.

Pilay reportedly provided Council members with updates on casualty figures, which she says has now reached over 5000, and gave an overview of some of crimes Syrian security forces have carried out against civilians, including the alleged killing of at least 300 children. 

The UN rights chief said she was alarmed by reports of a military build up around the city of Homs, although her office was unable to independently verify that information.

US Deputy Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said the Security Council’s failure to speak out against the Syrian government crackdown, after both the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly agreed to resolutions, was “unconscionable”,and urged Council members to stand “on the right side of history”.

Russia and China have both already used their veto at the Security Council to block a resolution on Syria. They say the UN has so far placed too much blame on the Assad government while ignoring attacks by armed protesters against security force personnel, and argue some governments are calling for regime change rather than a ceasefire. 

Moscow and Beijing have also said they are concerned a Security Council resolution could open the door to foreign military intervention as was the case in Libya.

Other Security Council members like India and South Africa have also repeatedly criticized the US and Europe for using the the cover of civilian protection in Libya to justify overthrowing the Gaddafi regime.

Ban defended NATO’s implementation of the Libyan resolution in his press conference today. The Secretary General said the UN worked closely with NATO to prevent rights abuses and civilian casualties and that ultimately, the Libyan people had led efforts to oust Gaddafi. 

US, Rights Groups Call for Tougher Stand on Syria

Calls came today for concerted and tough international action against the Assad regime in Syria on the heels of a fresh report on repression by the Syrian government against its population.

A new UN-mandated report said the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad and its security forces have coordinated a campaign of repression and violence against protesters that amounts to crimes against humanity.

Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN today said the report backs up the idea “that the Assad regime has participated in outrageous and now well documented atrocities,” and suggested it was time for the Security Council “to revisit the question of what might be possible here in New York.” 

Last month, Russia and China used their veto at the Council to block a European and US backed resolution against Syria’s repression of anti-government protest.

Western diplomats and international human rights groups now say they hope the report, along with the Arab League’s decision over the weekend to impose sanctions on the Syrian government, will bring the issue back before the Security Council.

“We were more than disappointed that the effort of a couple of a months ago to pass a very mild resolution of condemnation was vetoed by two permanent members and other that were unable to support it.” US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters outside the Security Council this evening, adding that with the the Arab League having acted and  evidence of repression  “becoming increasingly clear even for those who would rather deny it”, the patience of Syria’s neighbors and the international community had “evaporated“.

Amnesty International and a Syrian activist who fled the repression also called for strong Security Council action.

 At a press conference in New York this afternoon, Amnesty International and Syrian activists Catherine Altalli called on Security Council members to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court and enforce an arms embargo as well as an asset freeze on President Assad and his top officials.

Altalli, a member of the Syrian National Council opposition group, took part in anti-government protests during the first six month of demonstrations in Syria but has since had to flee to the US. She says officials for Syria’s opposition group are lobbying various Security Council members to vote in favor of sanctions against the Assad regime. 

Altalli says Russia and China have blocked significant action at the Security Council to protect their own national interests in the region but that in the long run, such measures will be counter-productive for both countries.

“Even if they[Russia and China] don’t agree at the Council, the government has maybe one or two years before it is gone but the Syrian people will stay forever and they will not forget.” she said after the press conference. 

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry report on Syria released today in Geneva found that Syrian state security forces and government backed militias have carried out extra-judicial executions, tortured and arbitrarily detained protesters without trial and systematically violated fundamental freedoms since anti-government demonstration broke out in March. 

 The report says that the scale, coordinated and repetitive nature of attacks on Syrian civilians has led investigators to believe they were sanctioned and carried out pursuant Assad government policy. 

 Authorities in Damascus refused to grant the Commission of Inquiry entry into Syria, and instead said they would provide it with the results of an independent Syrian investigation once it had been completed.The commission interviewed over 200 victims and witnesses of rights abuses, including defectors from Syria’s security forces .

The United Nations says that over 3500 people have been killed and several thousand more detained for their alleged role in the protests and uprising. In its report, the Commission also says it has information from reliable sources indicating that, as of November 9th, at least 256 children have died during the government crackdown.

Syrian officials maintain that they are fighting foreign-backed armed groups and that Syrian security forces have themselves suffered important casualties.

 While the report says it is aware of instances in which protesters carried out acts of violence and also acknowledges that  a group of military defectors calling itself the “Free Syrian Army” has claimed responsibility for attacks on security forces, it says the majority of protesters “were largely unarmed and determined to claim their rights and express their discontent peacefully.”

 Amnesty International representative Maha Abu Shama says there has been an increase in defections from state security forces to the Free Syrian Army,but that the intensity and scale of clashes did not constitute armed conflict. She said that only 50 of the 3500 reported deaths were caused by individual protesters but warned that if the Security Council failed to refer the situation to the ICC, chances of an escalation in conflict would grow.

Obama At UN: Peace Is Hard

Today, at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama addressed a packed crowd of the world’s highest level dignitaries from countries including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Sudan, France and Iran.

“I would like to talk to you about an issue which is at the heart of the United Nations; the pursuit of peace in an imperfect world. A lasting peace for nations and individuals depends on a sense of justice and opportunity. It depends on struggle, sacrifice and compromise.”

Amidst widespread criticism of his current policies regarding Israel, Obama stood firm on the United States’ position in regards to Palestinian statehood. 

“The lesson of Ireland and Sudan will be the path to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the two parties,” he said. “America has invested so much time and effort in a building of a Palestinian state. But understand this as well, America’s friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. We must commit to Israel’s security. Let us be honest with ourselves. Israel is small country of eight million people where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off the map. Those are facts and they cannot be denied. Israel deserves recognition. That is the truth. Each side has legitimate aspirations. The deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in the other’s shoes and see the world in each other’s eyes.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will call on the UN General Assembly to vote in support of a separate Palestinian state at the end of the week. He is expected to win the two-thirds majority of 129 votes needed within the General Assembly. Nonetheless, Susan Rice, the US Ambassador for the United Nations has stated several times the US, which holds a permanent seat at the Security Council, would veto the request. The General Assembly vote is being viewed by many critics within the international community as a symbolic gesture more than a shift in policy relations with Palestine.

“One year ago, I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine,” Obama said. “I believe then as I do now that Palestinians need a state of their own. But a genuine agreement needs to be made by Israelis and Palestinians themselves.”

The President highlighted his plan for a two-state solution which he announced in May of this year. He added he understood clearly the frustration by the lack of progress as expressed by the Palestinian government. 

“The question is not the goal that we seek. But how we reach that goal. I am convinced there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has lasted for decades. Peace is hard to come. It does not come from statements at the United Nations. Ultimately, peace depends on compromise and on people to live side by side.”

Obama also underscored his Administration’s achievements in setting a new direction with the world including the withdrawal of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He strongly criticized the Iranian and Syrian governments. He immediately called on the Security Council to impose sanctions on the Syrian government.

 “The fact is peace is hard. We still live in a world scarred by conflict.” 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also stressed the importance of cooperation.  He canvassed the UN’s role as the world’s first emergency responder and the significant role the United Nations continues to play in maintaining peace in countries like Somalia, Sudan, Haiti and Cote d-Ivoire.

“This year, the UN peacekeeping budget will be over 8 billion dollars. To prevent violations of human rights, we must work for the rule of law and stand against impunity.  In the Middle East, we must break the stalemate. We have long agreed the Palestinians need  a state.”

UN Approves Mission To Libya, Recognizes NTC As Interim Government

The UN Security Council has unanimously agreed to send an assistance mission to Libya and to start rolling back some of the weapons and financial sanctions imposed against Libyan companies and the former Gaddafi government.

At the request of Libya’s National Transitional Council(NTC), the mission will be limited to providing political assistance on issues like election preparation, transitional justice and national reconciliation for an initial three month mandate. 

Security Council diplomats said provisions authorizing NATO air strikes to protect civilian populations and the implementation of a No Fly Zone would remain in the resolution until conditions on the ground allowed for them to be lifted.

The Security Council resolution also lifts all sanctions against Libyan oil companies, by far the country’s most profitable industry.

Earlier today, the General Assembly voted to recognize members of the National Transitional Council as Libya’s official representatives to the UN by a vote 114-17, with 15 abstentions.

Several Latin American and African countries voted against the move and accused Western powers of ignoring ceasefire negotiations between parties and violating the Security Council’s “protection of civilians “ mandate in its attempts to overthrow the Gaddafi regime.