UN vote on Syria war crimes

BBC Online :
The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on a resolution to refer the Syria crisis to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes by all sides.
The draft resolution has wide support, with over 50 countries behind the move.
But Russia, one of the permanent five members of the council, said it will veto the resolution and called it a “publicity stunt.”
More than 150,000 people have been killed since the war began in 2011.
The BBC’s UN correspondent, Nick Bryant, says Russia argues that the move will destroy any chance of a peaceful solution to the civil war.
But France’s ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, dismissed Moscow’s claim, saying the resolution would not “undermine the political process because there is no political process.”
The civil war in Syria is now into its fourth year and peace talks have continually failed to yield any significant agreement.
Earlier this month, the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, stepped down after more than 18 months in the job.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the veteran diplomat but admitted the UN had “not been able to make any progress” in Syria.
He said that Brahimi had faced “almost impossible odds” because the international community was “hopelessly divided.”
Lobbying around the resolution intensified this week, with 58 countries taking the unusual step of calling on all 193 UN member states to show their support by co-sponsoring the resolution.
But Russia, President Assad’s strongest ally, says it will use its veto once again.
Correspondents say that it will be the fourth time Moscow has fended off Western resolutions at the UN since the Syria crisis erupted three years ago.
Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, said the French-drafted resolution was “simply a publicity stunt which will have a detrimental effect, unfortunately, on our joint efforts in trying to resolve politically the crisis in Syria.”
Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), so the only way it can be referred to The Hague tribunal is by the Security Council.
The council has previously referred conflicts in Darfur and Libya to the court, but not with so many non-council members signing on in support.
Western powers say Syrian government forces have committed numerous war crimes, including systematic torture, chemical attacks and indiscriminate “barrel bomb” campaigns.
Jihadist rebels have meanwhile been accused of carrying out mass executions of detainees.