Originally published on the CGS blog on June 3, 2011.
The European Union recently circulated a draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution which condemns Syria for its bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters. Such a resolution is a necessary initial warning to the Syrian government that the international community firmly renounces the violence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime have initiated against their civilian population. Despite the need for condemnation, countries such as China have threatened to veto the resolution.
Although China has said that it “supports Syria’s efforts to protect its sovereignty and stability,” China has a responsibility not to veto a potential resolution, and the United States should move forward with the resolution despite China’s implicit veto threat. China’s responsibility not to veto means that China along with other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, should agree not use their veto power to block U.N. responses to mass atrocities or genocide. In 2005, all U.N. member states endorsed the responsibility to protect principle, which calls for collective international action in instances of mass atrocities, like the ones that are occurring in Syria every day. By threatening to veto this resolution, China is failing to live up to their endorsement of the responsibility to protect.
The United States cannot and should not let China’s veto threat deter them from pushing this resolution through. An action must be taken to let Al-Assad know that his actions are unacceptable. Human Rights Watch recently documented a troubling number of Syrian attacks on peaceful protesters. Now is not the time to heed to China’s insistence that this is an issue about Syrian sovereignty. Vice President Joe Biden recently said, “When a state engages in atrocity, it forfeits its sovereignty.” The U.S. and other permanent members of the Security Council need to act decisively and push this resolution through to make sure China understands that this is not an appropriate time to use its veto power.
Join GlobalSolutions.org and sign the petition to tell President Obama and U.S. representative to the U.N., Susan Rice, to stand up for the people of Syria.
