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Russia has said that it would veto any UN resolution which would refer the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court if it would come to a vote in the UN Security Council, after 58 countries announced their support for such a measure. The resolution would authorize the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations made against the Syrian opposition and the Syrian government concerning their involvement in the Syrian civil war.
The Russian government announced its position on Tuesday via its Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov. “The draft that has been submitted to the UN Security Council is unacceptable to us, and we will not support it. If it is put to a vote, we will veto it”, he was quoted by Interfax news agency.
The proposal was first circulated by France in a Security Council briefing last month after a defector provided photographic evidence of the Syrian government conducting mass killing of detainees. The proposal calls for the International Criminal Court to be given authority over war crimes and the crimes against humanity conducted in Syria. The Security Council will vote on the proposal on Thursday. China is expected to use its veto like Russia. The US, Britain and other countries which back the proposal say that it has moral and symbolic value.
The 58 countries which support the resolution, led by Switzerland, have asked all the 193 UN member nations to co-sponsor it when put to a vote. Under the resolution, the International Criminal Court would be authorized to investigate accusations of atrocious crimes by the Syrian government, armed opposition groups and pro-government militia. They condemned the “widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in a pervasive climate of impunity by the Syrian authorities and pro-government militias as well as by non-state armed groups”. The draft resolution intentionally doesn’t target only one side.
Syria is not party to the decree which established the International Criminal Court, and can therefore only be referred to it by the UN Security Council. In the past, the council has referred conflicts in Libya and Darfur to the International Criminal Court.