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On May 22nd, Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have referred the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court. The resolution had international backing and was approved by the other 13 members of the Security Council.
“Moscow and Beijing can veto a resolution but they can’t suppress the desire for justice by the Syrian people and the dozens of governments that stood for their rights”, Richard Dicker, International Justice Director at Human Rights Watch said. “With the Syrian crisis entering a fourth year, atrocities raging on all sides, and the death toll skyrocketing well over 150,000, Russia and China’s vote for continued impunity is a disgrace”, he added.
Human Rights Watch said that the Syrian authorities, or leaders of any non-state armed organizations for that matter, have not taken any steps to make sure credible justice for past and ongoing human rights crimes in Syria is delivered. The failure to capture and punish those responsible for the violations had only incited further atrocities, it added.
At least 60 countries had supported the resolution which would refer the current situation in Syria to the ICC. If the resolution had passed, the ICC would have had jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanities committed in Syria, regardless of the side that perpetrated them. More than 100 non-governmental organizations on May 15th issued a statement that urged the Security Council to approve the resolution. Such broad support for the resolution from both non-governmental groups and governments reflected the widespread determination to carry out justice for serious crimes in the country, the Human Rights Watch added.
This is the fourth time China and Russia have jointly vetoed resolutions on Syria after the crisis began three years ago. The UN Security council has so far adopted two unanimous resolutions – one to help open humanitarian access, and the other on the use of chemical weapons. It has had little success on either of them so far. Neither resolution has any concrete provisions which would ensure justice for serious crimes ongoing in Syria.