U.N. General Assembly adopts resolution condemning Syrian president Assad's forces

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Wed May 15, 2013, 05:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters / Al Jazeera

@Reuters: U.N. General Assembly adopts resolution condemning Syrian president Assad's forces in civil war, supporting opposition coalition #breaking

@BloombergNews: RT @flaviajackson: #UN resolution on #Syria passes 107-12 with 59 abstensions. Compares to 133 or 2/3 majority in similar vote last August..

UN condemns Syrian government for violence
Last updated: 42 minutes ago

General Assembly approves Qatari-drafted move condemning alleged rights abuses by government amid continued violence.
The UN General Assembly has voted to pass a resolution condemning the Syrian government for human rights violations and call for a transitional government.

The measure was approved by a vote of 107 to 12, with 59 member states abstaining. That was a tighter margin than in August of last year, when 133 states voted to approve a similar resolution. Russia fiercely opposed the resolution as a potential obstacle to peace talks.

The resolution strongly condemns the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on two points: the escalation of heavy weapons on civilian areas, and what Qatar, which drafted the statement, calls systematic violations of human rights.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/story/2013515153154534102

[pampango]

1. Aljazeera: UN condemns Syrian government for violence

The UN General Assembly has voted to pass a resolution condemning the Syrian government for human rights violations and call for a transitional government.

The measure was approved by a vote of 107 to 12, with 59 member states abstaining. That was a tighter margin than in August of last year, when 133 states voted to approve a similar resolution. Russia fiercely opposed the resolution as a potential obstacle to peace talks.

The resolution strongly condemns the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on two points: the escalation of heavy weapons on civilian areas, and what Qatar, which drafted the statement, calls systematic violations of human rights.

Thursday's resolution expresses grave concern that the Syrian government is using chemical weapons, calls for unfettered access to UN investigators, and pushes again for a Syrian-led political transition, with the opposition Syrian National Coalition as the representatives of the Syrian people.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/2013515153154534102.html

A vote in the General Assembly may carry some moral authority but we all know that the real action is on the Security Council.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Qatar authored the statement? That's rich.

Qatar is financing the civil war and sending almost daily plane loads of weaponry to the insurgents. I wonder which insurgents are ending up with those Qatar-supplied weapons.

[pampango]

3. Only 12 countries thought it was too "rich". 107 did not seem to mind.

I doubt that many countries (whether in favor, opposed or abstaining) really cared which country authored the resolution. "Oh Qatar wrote this. Well we are definitely voting for it (or against it)."

It is no secret that the vast majority of the human rights abuses in Syria are done by the government. Amnesty International concluded this last month.

My guess is the vote had more to do with substance than with penmanship.

[David__77]

5. No, 71 thought it was too rich to support it. True that only 12 voted "no."

I think that as time goes on, the number will drop. The logic of the civil is such that it is almost inevitable. It is not even a function of who is right or wrong...

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. When it comes to human rights violations, the rebels are doing their best to catch up.

There is an LBN post today about them shooting at peaceful marchers, who don't want them around.

The Syrian Observatory reported yesterday that there are 41,000 Alawite dead. That's about half the number of Sunni dead, but a highly disproportionate figure given the Alawites' percentage of the population. Do you think it is Assad killing them?

[John2]

7. Which Syrian people are

they supposedly representing? Is it the Kurds, Alawites, Christians or Sunnis? The head of the Syrian Coalition is a naturalize citizen of the U.S. from Texas. The second guy in charge is a Christian that went to Indiana University. How can someone who hasn't lived in Syria for two decades be the representative of the Syrian people?

And don't you think it is kinda ridiculous to make demands on President Assad when they are presumably winning the War? Doesn't this seem like a desperate attempt and why the need the U.S. to intervene si bad?

Also can you answer the allegations recently reported in the Guardian, about an opposition commander cutting the organs out of a Syrian soldier and supposedly eating them. It was alleged he told his followers to do the same, which is being investigated as a War crime? This commander supposedly promise to do this to all Alawites. What was reported was horrendous in nature. And are you sure the FSA is not losing people to extremists along with their weapons?

[eissa]

4. Pushed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia

'Nuff said. These two are financing the rebels, and pushing for the removal of what their brand of Islam considers a "heretic" Muslim president. If these same protests erupted in their countries, they'd behave exactly like the Bahraini government did with their protestors, and the world would be just as silent.

[David__77]

6. The important thing is that there are no sanctions against Syria.

The watered down resolution not only lacks any legal force, but is also not especially emphatic. It calls for a cessation of violence. How popular.