Syrian Coalition: The Russian and Chinese Double Veto in the UNSC is Disgrace

Natheer Alhakim, member of the political committee, slams the Russian and Chinese veto of a draft UN resolution referring the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible war crimes. “This veto was expected, and it confirms the absolute conformity between the Russian and Chinese positions with that of the Assad regime. The blocking of this move is tantamount to sentencing the Syrian people to death and disrupts all the functions of the UN Security Council. We do not have the slightest doubt that the UN Security Council can solve the crisis and stop the bloodshed in Syria. However, it seems that the members of the Security Council don’t have a real desire to stop this barbaric campaign waged by the Assad regime on the Syrian people.” Alhakim also said that we understand the fears of some countries that anti-aircraft weapons might fall in the wrong hands, but the international community can neutralize Assad’s air force that has been raining barrel bombs on civilians through imposing a no-fly zone over Syria. Louay Safi, spokesman for the Syrian Coalition, called earlier on Russia “to assume its legal and ethical responsibilities regarding the vote on the French draft resolution referring the Syrian file to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after nearly 60 countries announced their support for the measure. Moscow’s position, announced on Tuesday by Gennady Gatilov, the deputy foreign minister, is consistent with previous moves to protect Bashar al-Assad from international censure in more than three years of the war. “The draft that has been submitted to the UN Security Council is unacceptable to us, and we will not support it,” Gatilov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. “If it is put to a vote, we will veto it.” Safi also stated that Russia must take into account that the use of the veto to protect Assad will be perceived as supporting terrorism of the Assad regime and the extremist groups that it is importing from his regional allies. In fact, Russia’s vetoing of previous draft resolutions emboldened Assad to kill more Syrians with conventional and non-conventional weapons. Moreover, Russia converted its right to use the veto to a lethal weapon that kills children and civilians.” Safi also stresses that we are in principle support referring all parties to the conflict to fair trials, and the Assad regime is undoubtedly the only to blame for these crimes whether directly or through some extremist groups aligned with it. The Assad regime seeks to send a message to the world that “either me, or terrorist groups will prevail in the region.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)