UN council calls on Syria to end violence against its own citizens

The UN’s top human rights body has voted overwhelmingly to demand Syria end its bloody crackdown and co-operate with an international probe into possible crimes against humanity.

The UN Human Rights Council yesterday voted 33-4 to condemn the violence by Syrian authorities – strongly underscoring the growing international isolation of president Bashar al-Assad – and dispatch a human rights team to investigate alleged atrocities since March.

The countries voting in favour included all four Arab voting members of the council – Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Russia and China voted against, along with Cuba and Ecuador.

The remaining countries on the 47-nation council abstained or were absent.

Western diplomats quickly capitalised on the resolution’s strong support and the symbolism of the council’s Arab members voting in favour of it.

US ambassador Eileen Donahoe said the broad consensus shows the extent to which Mr Assad has become isolated.

“We will not stand by silently as innocent civilians and peaceful protesters are slaughtered by security forces,” she said. “We have not been fooled by empty promises of reform and engagement.”

Jeremy Browne, a British Foreign Office minister, said the resolution also sends “a clear message to the Syrian regime that the brutal repression must stop and that those responsible for the violence will be held to account for their crimes”.

He said Mr Assad must step aside immediately in light of strong evidence that his regime has committed atrocities such as deliberately killing women and children and “an apparent shoot-to-kill policy for the dispersal of peaceful protesters”.

In the face of sharp opposition from China, Russia and other nations suspicious of international intervention in a country’s affairs, the resolution was heavily edited – and somewhat watered down – from its original language.

The wording “Grave human rights violations” for example, became “The human rights situation” in Syria.

But the resolution itself still had bite. It said the council “strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters and human rights activists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, also of children”.

It called on Syrian authorities to put an end to all human rights violations to protect their population and to comply with international human rights laws.

The council also decided to dispatch a team of international human rights investigators “to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March” in Syria, particularly “those that may constitute crimes against humanity.”

China’s ambassador He Yafei said the measure “will only complicate the situation”.

Syrian ambassador Fayssal al-Hamwi called the action “100 per cent political”.