UN Security Council members France, Britain, Australia, Luxembourg and South Korea voiced support Friday for an International Criminal Court investigation of human rights crimes in the Syria civil war.
The ambassadors of the five countries issued a joint statement supporting the call by Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. The ambassadors said they were backing a petition by 58 countries demanding ICC investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.
“The Security Council should play a role in support of the petition,” British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said, pointing out that the council’s 15 member countries are divided over the ICC referral.
The council president, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Masood Khan, said the referral request was discussed in a closed—door Security Council meeting without a consensus to support the ICC referral.
