Amid high drama at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Russia and China have spiritedly opposed a European-Arab draft that seeks to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the first step towards the establishment of democracy in the troubled Arab nation.
Citing the principle of sovereignty and advocating a peaceful internal dialogue, Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin said during an animated debate on Tuesday that there were alternative ways to end the bloodshed in Syria other than by the eviction of Mr. Assad by foreign powers through the U.N. route.
Questioning the legality of the proposed resolution, Mr. Churkin said the UNSC did not have the mandate to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. “The Council cannot prescribe ready recipes for the outcome of domestic political processes. It is not in the [U.N.] Charter”. Mr. Churkin warned that the U.N.'s intrusion into the internal affairs of a country would set a dangerous precedent. “Then you will start telling what king needs to resign and what Prime Minister needs to step down. This is not the business of the Security Council.”
Observers say the Russians are apprehensive that if validated, the principle of U.N. interventionism in internal conflicts can be used to target them if the domestic situation in Russia deteriorates for some reason.
Analysts say at the heart of the sovereignty-versus-intervention debate in the Security Council is the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) norm of the United Nations, which permits foreign involvement in the internal affairs of a country when it can be established that “mass atrocities” are possible. In Syria's case, Prime Minister of Qatar Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told the Security Council on Tuesday that the Syrian government was a “killing machine (that) continues effectively unabated”.
Backing the Russian position, China said the Security Council was overstepping its mandated boundaries in the case of Syria. “China...resolutely opposes pushing for forced regime change in Syria, as it violates the United Nations Charter and the basic norms guiding the practice of international relations,” Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Li Baodong said, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Russia's insistence against any resolution, seemingly for a humanitarian cause but which could trigger a process of “regime change”, has been cemented by the Libyan experience. Stung by the happenings in Libya, where a pro-West government is now in place, Mr. Churkin insisted that as a matter of principle, his country rejected sanctions or external meddling as a means to solve internal conflicts. “We will not stand for any sanctions resolutions or using the council's toolbox so as to fuel conflict or possibly justify any foreign intervention in the future.”
Contrary to Russian expectations, the text of the draft is open to future use of sanctions or force against Syria. The Assad-regime, according to the draft introduced by Morocco, could be subjected to “further measures”, if it failed to comply to the main demands of the resolution — delegation of “full authority” by the President to his deputy, leading to the formation of an interim national unity government — within 15 days.
The Russians also questioned the Western assumption that President Assad alone was responsible for the growing violence in Syria. Speaking separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “Yes, we condemn strongly the use of force by (Syrian) government forces against civilians. But we condemn in the same strong way the activities of the armed extremist groups who attack government positions.”
On the contrary, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Mr. Assad a “dictator”, and urged “the international community to put aside our own differences and send a clear message of support to the people of Syria” by backing the European-Arab draft.
Bassar Al Assad seems intent on killing off the opposition literally one
by one and we have the hardliners as usual screaming out "conspiracy"
and China and Russia vetoing the "West".
One way out of the impasse could be that the Arab League use the army
they jointly maintain - the "Gulf Peacekeeping Corps" or something like
that - to force Assad to stop his relentless attacks on peaceful
civilian areas. That could be done unilaterally.
It is time for the West created and West dominated undemocratic body called UN be abolished like the defunct League of Nations, and a more equitable body be created with equal voting rights for all member states in some neutral or autonomous territory. Using UN for its "regime toppling" purpose, what NATO did by the use of sheer force in Libya was atrocious from all legal and humanitarian points of view. It must not be allowed to be repeated.
It is not a "Western-Backed" resolution but a "Western" resolution, backed by the world's largest forum of dictators known as the Arab League.
Syria is not the only country which needs a regime change. most of the ME countries,
others are going thro' a "revolution" and it must come from the people of the
country. Unfortunately there is interference from other countries mostly the western
countries for their ideology. Revolutions historically have failed,e.g.
Russia,America,Iran etc. UN was an American idea to protect smaller countries( free
to elect their own Govt.) but has been almost a total failure. America uses it for its convenience and protect its masters Israel. Now Russia is doing the same with Syria. UN has no teeth,UN security council has been made desfunctional by the veto power of the 5 permanent members. the ICC is not recoganised by the the two rogue main countries. unfortunately the citizens of the world are the victims and the rich and their govenments are the FAT cats.
Mr Lavrov has unwittingly revealed the Russians' flawed position in
this matter. "But we condemn in the same strong way the activities of the armed extremist groups who attack government positions.” - he fails to take note of the fact that the Syrian protests started as mass gatherings in civilian areas. The Syrian opposition wasn't in favor of an armed resistance/uprising. It was only after Assad moved tanks and army columns to crush the protests in the cities that some army elements deserted and began to resist the govt troops' attempts to crush with force peaceful protests.
Anyway, Assad is only improving upon the atrocity the Russians perpetrated at Novocherkassk. Maybe they feel too proud of their legacy to censure him for it?
Hillary Clinton calling Bashar Assad a " dictator " is absurd and ridiculous in the context of her backing the Arab League to bring down Syrian regime.Are the countries in the Arab League flourishing democracies and their heads dedicated democrats ?
The Arab Spring has unfortunately provided an opportunity for the United States to develop an agenda of its own to extend and consolidate its influence across the world.The Gaddafi regime was destroyed with great fanfare and a new government packed with American nominees was installed in " liberated " Libya.The U.S government is however tight lipped over the current disturbing state of affairs in that country despite some extremely alarming reports from human rights groups.Now,the same U.S is gunning for Bashar Assad of Syria .It is therefore good to see Russia and China putting their foot down over the Syrian draft resolution at the UNSC.American concern for freedom and democracy around the globe badly needs far better and more convincing advocates than Hillary Clinton and her UN ambassador Susan Rice..
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