As international anger rises over reports of mass carnage at the hands of the Syrian regime, a U.N. Security Council draft resolution condemning Syria failed to be adopted on Saturday after veto-wielding members Russia and China voted against it. Ambassadors from the other permanent members of the council—the United States, France, and the United Kingdom—said they were furious at Russia and China for failing to halt the worsening bloody violence that has consumed the Middle Eastern nation. The resolution called for a “Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system,” and was backed by the 13 other members of the Security Council. “Those that have blocked potentially the last effort to resolve this peacefully [...] will have any future blood spill on their hands,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told CNN. She continued, “the people of Syria have been abandoned by this Council and by the international community.”
In a statement, the Syrian National Council (SNC) condemned Moscow and Beijing for obstructing the passage of the draft resolution: “The SNC holds both governments accountable for the escalation of killings and genocide, and considers this irresponsible step a license for the Syrian regime to kill without being held accountable.”
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution text “did not adequately reflect the real state of affairs and sent an unbalanced signal” to the various parties in Syria. China’s state news agency Xinhua ran a commentary piece saying the two countries believed more time and patience is needed to solve the crisis.
The vote is a major diplomatic setback for countries hoping to send a unified message to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and also for opposition groups that look toward the United Nations for support. The document was rejected just hours after Syrian government forces bombarded the city of Homs with tank shells and mortars, killing scores of people. Activists said a massacre had occurred, but the government denied responsibility for the attack, accusing the opposition of propaganda. The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a Syrian opposition group, said 90 people had been killed in Syria on Saturday, including 61 in Homs, 10 in Idlib and 19 in a Damascus suburb. In a bid to pressure the government, the group called for a two day civil strike to start on Sunday. Reports of the violence in Homs led to protests breaking out at Syrian embassies in Cairo, Berlin, Washington, Kuwait and London on Friday and Saturday. President Barack Obama sharply condemned the Homs attack and accused President Bashar al-Assad of launching an “unspeakable assault” on his own citizens, calling for him to resign and for democratic elections to be held.
Syria has been gripped by nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s government for almost a year now. The anti-government protests, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, first erupted in March 2011 after the arrest of a group of teenagers who spray painted a revolutionary slogan on a wall. The arrests in the southern city of Deraa prompted people to take to the streets, and the unrest has since spread to other areas, including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Jisr al-Shughour, Baniyas and the suburbs of Damascus. Demonstrators want greater freedom, an end to extrajudicial killings and torture, and the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad. As the protests spread across the country and the government crackdown intensified, opposition groups publicly declared their support for the protesters’ demands. In November, several announced the formation of a united front, the Syrian National Council.
Member states of the Arab League lead by Qatar and Saudi Arabia voted to suspend Syria in an effort to force President al-Assad to end the crisis. In late January, the Arab League laid out an ambitious plan for political reform, which called on President al-Assad to delegate power to a vice-president, to engage in proper dialogue with the opposition within two weeks and to form a government of national unity in two months. The League said that this should eventually lead to multi-party elections overseen by international observers. A week later, following a dramatic increase in violence, the League was forced to suspend its observer mission in Syria.
The course of the Syria Crisis is uncertain, and there are several unanswered questions. How much force does the regime hold in reserve? Will the president face a palace coup, perhaps from an Alawite general fearful that al-Assad’s stand will destroy their whole community? Will foreigners intervene decisively, as they did in Libya, despite the mounting international tension? It is hard to predict the endgame in Syria, but the failure of the United Nations Security Council to approve the Arab League’s proposal for an orderly transfer of power in Syria sets the stage for a protracted, bloody stalemate between a brutal regime and a militarized opposition.
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