Originally published on the CGS blog on June 29, 2011.
In their op-ed in today’s Financial Times, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Foreign Minister of Jordan Marwan Musher urged the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. They specified that Assad is responsible for using “lethal violence to repress peaceful demonstrations in support of democratic rule.”
As part of Albright and Mausher’s argument, they indicate that the ICC is the best international institution to deal with the situation in Syria in the hope that the threat of action by The Hague will deter Assad from continuing such abuses. They believe directing the ICC’s attention to the human rights abuses in Syria “could cause the government in Damascus to think with greater depth about its interests and, as a result, possibly change course, sparing many lives.” Further, by indicting President Assad, the international community will show its zero tolerance policy for mass atrocities which will hopefully prevent others from committing future abuses.
Albright and Mausher also discussed how international institutions need to evolve along with the democratization of Middle Eastern countries. The following actions, they believe, would help “modernize and restore confidence” in international institutions:
- Creative use of the ICC
- Review of economic development mechanisms
- Overhauling the UN Human Rights Council
- Fine-Tuning the tool of economic sanctions
- Elevating the profile of the Communities of Democracies (founded in Warsaw in 2000)
Making these changes, Albright and Mausher point out, is not only the responsibility of government agencies, but of the private sector as well. This important portion of the Syrian population has the ability to convince their president that democratic reform is best for their country.
Citizens for Global Solutions believes in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria, while simultaneously bringing those responsible for the violence to justice for committing crimes against humanity. Swift and decisive action by the United Nations Security Council and the International Criminal Court can mean saving thousands of lives and preventing a larger scale conflict in a country that has suffered enough under their current leadership.
