Syria: open warfare has begun
Dec 16, 2011 13:29:11 GMT -5
Post by shann0 on Dec 16, 2011 13:29:11 GMT -5
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8952941/Syria-open-warfare-has-begun.html
Syria: open warfare has begun
The latest condemnation of Syria by the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner reflects in its wording the trauma of a country descending into open warfare.
Syria: open warfare has begun
Image 1 of 3
A still taken from a video of security forces in Daraa, Syria Photo: AP
Richard Spencer
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
10:31AM GMT 13 Dec 2011
The number of dead, according to the Commissioner, Navi Pillay, has passed 5,000, an increase of 1,000 in just ten days, a frightening escalation.
That does not include the many soldiers being killed – more than 1,100, according to the regime. Even if they are defending the indefensible, they too have families.
The pointlessness of what is happening in the country is laid bare quite simply. Among the dead are 300 children, Ms Pillay says.
Another 14,000 people are imprisoned, and many are being tortured – though what exactly torture can achieve in scaring off opposition at this stage, let alone reconciling it to the government, is hard to fathom.
But the giveaway is Ms Pillay's request to a closed session of the Security Council that the Assad regime be referred to the International Criminal Court. "It is based on the evidence and the widespread and systematic nature of the killings, the detentions and the acts of torture that I felt that these acts constituted crimes against humanity and I recommended that there should be a referral to the International Criminal Court," she said.
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While these are powerful words, they are no more powerful than the statement Ms Pillay gave to the Security Council in her last briefing on Syria all the way back in August, when she gave the number of dead as 2,000 and also requested referral to the ICC.
"The mission found a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity," she said then.
That referral never took place. It was opposed by Russia and China, and would in any case have been ignored by the Assad regime.
On Monday, the indications were that Russia at least would continue to oppose any such move. The Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said he was "troubled" by what Ms Pillay had to say but still believed outside intervention would make things worse.
China is said to be reconsidering its initially hostile reaction to every facet of the "Arab Spring", realising its principled opposition to democratic revolution has been overtaken by events. But there is no sign that this reflection will lead to the major geopolitical repositioning that would lead it to side with the West against Syria and its guardian angel, Iran.
There have been some major developments since August. The Libyan regime of Col Gaddafi, who was facing ICC charges, has collapsed, and the man himself killed. But that has made the Western allies no more keen to extend the principle of liberal interventionism to Syria, a much knottier problem to unravel. So the Assads can continue with their defiance for some time yet.
The strength of Ms Pillay's words, then, must be seen for what they are: a powerful howl in the face of international helplessness, rather than a harbinger of action.
Syria: open warfare has begun
The latest condemnation of Syria by the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner reflects in its wording the trauma of a country descending into open warfare.
Syria: open warfare has begun
Image 1 of 3
A still taken from a video of security forces in Daraa, Syria Photo: AP
Richard Spencer
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
10:31AM GMT 13 Dec 2011
The number of dead, according to the Commissioner, Navi Pillay, has passed 5,000, an increase of 1,000 in just ten days, a frightening escalation.
That does not include the many soldiers being killed – more than 1,100, according to the regime. Even if they are defending the indefensible, they too have families.
The pointlessness of what is happening in the country is laid bare quite simply. Among the dead are 300 children, Ms Pillay says.
Another 14,000 people are imprisoned, and many are being tortured – though what exactly torture can achieve in scaring off opposition at this stage, let alone reconciling it to the government, is hard to fathom.
But the giveaway is Ms Pillay's request to a closed session of the Security Council that the Assad regime be referred to the International Criminal Court. "It is based on the evidence and the widespread and systematic nature of the killings, the detentions and the acts of torture that I felt that these acts constituted crimes against humanity and I recommended that there should be a referral to the International Criminal Court," she said.
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13 Dec 2011
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13 Dec 2011
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13 Dec 2011
Syria: UN suffering from 'Syrianophobia'
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While these are powerful words, they are no more powerful than the statement Ms Pillay gave to the Security Council in her last briefing on Syria all the way back in August, when she gave the number of dead as 2,000 and also requested referral to the ICC.
"The mission found a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity," she said then.
That referral never took place. It was opposed by Russia and China, and would in any case have been ignored by the Assad regime.
On Monday, the indications were that Russia at least would continue to oppose any such move. The Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said he was "troubled" by what Ms Pillay had to say but still believed outside intervention would make things worse.
China is said to be reconsidering its initially hostile reaction to every facet of the "Arab Spring", realising its principled opposition to democratic revolution has been overtaken by events. But there is no sign that this reflection will lead to the major geopolitical repositioning that would lead it to side with the West against Syria and its guardian angel, Iran.
There have been some major developments since August. The Libyan regime of Col Gaddafi, who was facing ICC charges, has collapsed, and the man himself killed. But that has made the Western allies no more keen to extend the principle of liberal interventionism to Syria, a much knottier problem to unravel. So the Assads can continue with their defiance for some time yet.
The strength of Ms Pillay's words, then, must be seen for what they are: a powerful howl in the face of international helplessness, rather than a harbinger of action.
