BICOM

The US and European nations circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution yesterday, calling for an arms embargo and additional sanctions on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. According to a report by the Associated Press, the resolution looks to place an asset freeze on 23 senior individuals and several companies associated with the regime, as well as a travel ban on certain key figures. The resolution is supported by the US, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, but Russia and China – which both have veto power – as well as India, Brazil and South Africa may not be behind it. Philip Parham, Britain’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said that action on Syria in the Security Council could take place in the coming days.  

In related news, the UN Human Rights Council voted yesterday to condemn ‘systematic human rights violations’ by the regime in Syria. The UNHRC has ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Syria and has demanded an immediate end to the violence.  A team of high-level investigators are to be dispatched to the country to examine breaches of international law carried out by the regime. A resolution condemning the violence and ordering the investigation was passed by 33 voted to four at a meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva. Among the countries supporting the motion were Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Both Russia and China were opposed, however, with a Chinese official claiming that the investigation would ‘complicate the situation’ in Syria.  The UN considers that around 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since the unrest began in March.