UN General Assembly denounces Syrian crackdown, criticizes Security Council inaction

Source: Washington Post

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly denounced Syria’s crackdown Friday in a symbolic effort meant to push the deadlocked Security Council and the world at large into action on stopping the country’s civil war. The General Assembly vote was 133 in support of the resolution and 12 against, with 31 abstaining. Though General Assembly resolutions are unenforceable, a strong vote can carry moral weight.

Before the vote, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon reminded the Assembly of the fresh violence in the city of Aleppo and drew comparisons between the failure to act in Syria with the international community’s failure to protect people from past genocide in Srebrenica and Rwanda. “The conflict in Syria is a test of everything this organization stands for,” Ban said. “I do not want today’s United Nations to fail that test.”

The revised resolution takes a swipe at Russia and China by “deploring the Security Council failure” to act. Frustration over the lack of action was clear.

The vote came after the more powerful Security Council was stopped by a series of Russian and Chinese vetoes on resolutions that would have opened the door to sanctions on Syria. The resolution backs Annan’s “demand that the first step in the cessation of violence has to be made by the Syrian authorities.”



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un-general-assembly-resolution-to-tell-syria-to-lock-down-chemical-weapons-stop-tank-attacks/2012/08/03/eefc9c32-dd20-11e1-8ad1-909913931f71_story.html

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I doubt that the "moral weight" of even a lop-sided vote in the General Assembly will make any difference to the big powers that control the action (or inaction) of the Security Council.