Syria in the spotlight

The Human Rights Council turned its attention to Syria again on Friday last week with another Special Session called by the EU- the 3^rd consecutive time in 7 months it had met in response to the Assad regime’s ongoing brutality. This level of attention is a clear indication of the international outrage at what is going on in Syria. It is also a sign of the Council’s increasing ability to respond to human rights crises.  Any Council action against Syria would have been unthinkable a year ago,  when Syria was actually trying to get itself elected to the Council. This meeting came on the back of a resolution at the UN General Assembly in New York a couple of weeks ago criticising the deteriorating situation and was prompted by the report of the International Commission of Inquiry set up at the previous Special Session in August in order to investigate and document violations. The Commission produced a hard hitting and at times harrowing report of atrocities carried out by Assad’s security forces based on witness testimony. Perhaps the most shocking details were the cases of torture, rape and execution of children, which made for grim reading and which left no doubt that the Council had to respond.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights opened proceedings by warning that Assad’s continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, would drive the country into full scale civil war. Paulo Pinheiro, the highly respected head of the Commission of Inquiry said the Commission was extremely concerned that crimes against humanity had occurred as a result of state policy and backed the Arab’s leagues call for a monitoring presence in the country.

Almost 70 countries and human rights organisations then spoke to condemn Syria’s actions with many calling for further international action, including referral to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court. The statements by the Arab countries made the strongest impression, none more so than Libya who told the Council that the Syrian people were suffering now the same killings, arrests and torture that the Libya people had suffered during its 42 year dictatorship under Gadhafi.

The few countries who spoke up against the holding of the Special Session were mostly those that are either currently the subject of the Council’s attention or else are fearful that they might be soon and Syria can take little solace from having the likes of Iran, North Korea and Belarus speak up on their behalf. The one statement which caught everyone unawares was given by a little known grouping called ALBA. When they appeared on the speakers list, delegates scratched their heads and then scrambled for their iphones and blackberries for a quick google. It turned out that this was a grouping of Cuba, Venezuela Nicaragua and Ecuador, whose ill judged rant against the session fell flat and did little to distract from the serious issues being discussed.

The Session ended by adopting one of the Council’s toughest ever resolutions which condemned the violations in the strongest terms and established a new UN Special Rapporteur to take up the monitoring of the situation once the Commission on Inquiry mandate ends. The level of support for the resolution left no doubt that the world has had enough of Assad’s actions. 37 countries voted in favour, an important increase from the 33 who voted yes in August and 26 in April. Djibouti, Mauritania and Malaysia all deserve praise for moving from an abstention in August to voting in favour this session, as do the Arab members of the Council for strongly supporting the Special Session from the outset.

The 4 countries who were still left voting no (Russia, Cuba China and Ecuador) must realise the damaging effect their record has on their credibility as Council members.

Despite the resounding support for the resolution this wasn’t a day for triumphalism. The session had begun with a sombre minute’s silence which set the tone for the day. Above all, the Session was a message of solidarity for the Syrian people in the face of  a terrifying campaign of torture, arrests and executions by Assad and his security forces. Let’s hope that the High Commissioner’s prediction of a spiral in into a full scale civil war can be avoided. But for now the message is clear. Assad’s isolation is growing and his regime’s violations have to stop.