Should This Surprise Anyone (Syria/U.N.)

Again, security council being held hostage by China and Russia.  They are fighting more sanctions on Syria's Assad regime because it would make their own crackdowns on civil rights illegitimate in their eyes and may make the world pressure them more for changes.  This is why the security council needs to be disbanded and a general vote on the floor of the main assembly with 50% + 1 vote wins.  It is the only real democratic way to do things and would put more pressure on the non democratic states to reform or be sanctioned themselves.

Russia, China resist U.N. Syria sanctions push: envoys

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS | Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:48pm EDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.S. and European push to impose U.N. Security Council sanctions on Syria for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators is meeting fierce resistance from Russia and China, U.N. diplomats said.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft resolution that calls for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, influential members of his family and close associates. They said they wanted to put the draft to a vote as soon as possible.

The measures are not as severe as U.S. sanctions in place and a proposed expansion of European Union steps against Damascus that would forbid the import of Syrian oil.

Diplomats said there are no plans for a vote yet.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has hinted that Moscow would use its veto power to knock down the draft if it was put to a vote at the present time. Western diplomats said that Russia and China were refusing to discuss the draft.

"The Russians say they have no instructions," a diplomat told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity.

As a result, Western diplomats in New York said their capitals would have to get involved to persuade Moscow and Beijing to join negotiations on the draft resolution to reach a consensus among the 15 Security Council members.

"Clearly we need this to be unlocked at the capital level because there is very strong resistance from Russia and China," a diplomat said.

Brazil, India and South Africa have also been reluctant to sanction -- or even condemn -- Syria, whose five-month crackdown on demonstrators has killed at 2,200, according to U.N. figures from earlier this week.

But one diplomat said that the three powerful developing countries, all three of which aspire to one day become permanent members of an expanded Security Council, were now "constructively engaging on the text."

EMPTY CHAIRS

The council had scheduled an informal closed-door meeting of ambassadors on the draft sanctions resolution on Thursday afternoon, but the Chinese and Russian envoys boycotted the meeting, diplomats said.

"You see two permanent members of the Security Council who deliberately leave an empty chair," a diplomat said. "We hope that they will engage constructively."

Earlier this week Russian Ambassador Churkin told reporters that it was not the time to sanction Syria. After months of helping block any council action on Syria, Russia and China had backed an August 3 statement by the Security Council that condemned the government's crackdown and called for it to end.

Russia, China, Brazil, India and South Africa have repeatedly complained that the NATO intervention in Libya has gone far beyond the U.N. mandate to protect civilians from violence by the government the council approved in March. They say they do not want the same thing to happen in Syria.

Russia has long had close ties to Syria and is one of its main arms suppliers. One of the proposed sanctions is an arms embargo that would make it illegal for Russian firms to sell weapons to Damascus.

The sanctions would impose a travel ban on 22 of Assad's family and associates and an asset freeze on 23 Syrians, including Assad. Envoys said President Assad was excluded from the travel ban in order to give him an escape route.

"We want him to leave the country," a diplomat said.

The United States and EU have urged Assad to step down.

Russia's Stance On Syria, "How Typical!"

Syria: Russia Opposes UN Bid To End Violence

4:16pm UK, Thursday June 09, 2011

Hannah Thomas-Peter, Sky News reporter, New York

Russia has said it is opposed to any UN Security Council resolution on Syria over President Assad's deadly crackdown on protesters.

Foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the Damascus government must be allowed time to implement promised reforms.

He said: "We do not believe the Syrian issue is a subject for consideration by the Security Council, let alone the adoption of some kind of resolution.
"The situation in this country, in our view, does not present a threat to international peace and security."
The Moscow briefing comes on the second day of Security Council negotiations on a draft resolution, co-authored by the UK, France, Germany and Portugal.
The text condemns the Syrian government's crackdown on protesters, demands an immediate end to the violence, and calls on members to prevent the sale of arms to the country.
Speaking outside the Security Council on Wednesday, Britain's ambassador to the UN Sir Mark Lyall-Grant said: "We believe that the world should not stand silent in the face of the outrages that are happening.
"And we therefore hope that we'll be able to move to vote on the resolution in the coming days."

Syrian refugees wait to enter Turkey on the border

The US has said it strongly backs the resolution.
In order for it to be adopted, nine of the 15 members of the Security Council need to vote yes.
All five permanent members, (Britain, France, America, Russia and China), who each have the right to veto, must also agree.
Although Russia voted in favour of the Council's resolutions on Libya, the country has been deeply unhappy with the level of military intervention there.
The draft Syria resolution stops well short of sanctions, an arms embargo, and any involvement using foreign troops, but Russia is still fearful that it is the first step to Libya-style intervention.
One western diplomatic aide who is involved in the negotiations told Sky News Online the sponsors of the resolution were hoping for a formal vote by the end of the week.

Russia and its allies like India should be pressed on why they aren't support a non-binding resolution calling for restraint from all sides.

Western diplomatic aide

But on Russia, they were "hoping for the best, preparing for the worst", he claimed.
"Russia and its allies like India should be pressed on why they aren't support a non-binding resolution calling for restraint from all sides, a Syrian-led political reform process, and a non-binding call not to supply weapons to the whole of Syria, not just the regime," he said.
"Until now, they've blocked Security Council action on the grounds that it could make things worse.
"Well, things have got worse - last weekend saw the highest level of deaths yet, among both civilians and security forces.
"And there's certainly no political process emerging. Surely the Security Council should meet its minimum responsibilities by taking a position on this?"

Protesters want President Bashar Assad to step down

The aide indicated that countries like China, Brazil, and to some extent India were still sceptical of the draft text.
The diplomatic wrangling comes as human rights groups report the death toll in Syria has passed 1,100.
There are reports of over 1,500 people fleeing the country over the border into Turkey.
Residents in the northwestern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour have reportedly gone there, fearing a massacre of anti-regime protesters following an army mutiny.
Syrian state TV said 120 security personnel were killed by armed gangs. But locals claimed the men were killed after they refused to fire on civilians at a pro-democracy rally.
Activists said elite Syrian forces were heading for the town, while Turkey said it was preparing for a mass influx of refugees.
Syrian troops believed to be led by Assad's younger brother had almost surrounded the town, leaving open just one route to the border, according to activist Mustafa Osso.
A Turkish official said 1,000 Syrians crossed the border overnight, raising the number of refugees in the country to 1,600.
Because most independent media are banned from Syria, accounts and facts are very difficult to verify.