Originally published on the CGS blog on September 29, 2011.
This week, it was announced that a United Nations draft resolution on Syria–written by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal and supported by the U.S.–was backing off from demanding immediate sanctions on the Assad regime. Instead, it would threaten to impose sanctions only if the Syrian government does not cease its violence toward protesters. This change apparently comes as the sponsoring nations seek to gain the support of Russia and China, both permanent U.N. Security Council members, who oppose sanctioning Assad’s government. Meanwhile, Russia is floating a resolution of its own which would condemn the violence in Syria but include no sanctions at all.
On the plus side, the France-UK-Germany-Portugal resolution “demands an immediate end to all violence”, and states that the Security Council “expresses its determination, in the event that Syria has not complied with this resolution, to adopt targeted measures, including sanctions.”
Well, that’s great-except for the fact that the Assad regime has spent the past several months defying an outcry from the international community by attacking its own citizens, with at least 2700 Syrian civilians killed so far at the hands of their own government. Why should this regime be given another chance to get their act together and stop massacring their own people before sanctions are imposed? If getting Russia and China on board is indeed the reason for the watered-down resolution language, that’s simply not good enough.
As permanent members of the Security Council, these two countries have an obligation to abide by the Responsibility to Protect, under which the international community must take action when civilians are being killed and their government is either unable to protect them, or is in fact responsible for their slaughter, as is the case in Syria. Russia and China should therefore refrain from using their veto power on any resolution designed to protect innocent civilians before it’s too late. If they are unwilling to do so, the Security Council’s response should not be to cater to them with a weaker resolution; rather, it should issue the strongest resolution possible and let Russia and China veto it if they object.
I’m pleased that European countries are working on a draft resolution to condemn Syria. Given the continent’s own history with war and genocide and the progress they’ve made since World War II, they bring an important voice to the table on these issues. But any resolution they propose should include the strongest possible penalties against the Assad regime, including immediate sanctions if at all possible. The United States should urge its European allies to keep the principle of Responsibility to Protect at the forefront as they work through the U.N. to protect the Syrian people.
