THE UNITED NATIONS General Assembly is to vote today on a resolution to condemn President Bashar Assad’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Syria.
If passed, the resolution – although not binding – will be the UN’s strongest statement against Assad’s regime. It calls for an immediate end to human-rights violations and attacks on civilians, as well as condemning the president’s actions since dissent started to emerge last March.
Assad continues to deny that government troops are slaughtering thousands of civilians, claiming that the violence has been caused by terrorist groups.
The UN human rights chief believes that crimes against humanity are being committed every day in Syria. More than 5,400 people have been killed since March 2011 and tens of thousands more are displaced from their homes. A further 18,000 are being held in detention as political prisoners and thousands are reported missing.
Today’s vote comes in the wake of the Security Council’s failure to agree on collective actions aimed at stopping the violence. Russia and China’s veto of that resolution has been blamed for emboldening the Syrian government to launch an assault to crush dissent with overwhelming force.
Russia – a trade and arms ally of Damascus – remains opposed to any resolution that amounts to a mandate for regime change or interferes with Syria’s sovereignty.
Both China and Russia are also against anything that could replicate the intervention seen in Libya last year.
What do you think about it? Should the UN take greater action on Syria?
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