UNITED NATIONS - Pakistan voted for an Arab-backed resolution on Wednesday under which the UN General Assembly called on the involved parties to work together for a political transition in Syria to end the 2-year-old conflict.
The Qatari-drafted resolution was adopted by a vote of 107 countries in favour, 12 against, with 59 abstaining. Russia, China and Iran — Syria’s three main supporters — voted against the measure, along with several Latin American countries. Among South Asian countries, apart from Pakistan, Maldives supported the resolution. India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan abstained.
“The resolution should have been more balanced to reflect objectively the reality on the ground by assigning responsibility to all sides for the worsening of the situation,” Pakistan U.N. Ambassador Masood Khan told the 153-member Assembly. Still, he voted for the text, which several speakers said supported the main opposition Syrian group and fear that the resolution could torpedo a new U.S.-Russia effort to end the escalating conflict.
The resolution welcomes the establishment of the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group, “as effective interlocutors needed for a political transition” and notes “wide international acknowledgment” that the group is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. It also strongly condemns President Bashar Assad’s regime for its escalating use of heavy weapons and “gross violations” of human rights.
The Arab group decided to seek approval of a wide-ranging resolution on Syria in the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, to reflect international dismay at the increasing death toll, now more than 70,000, and the failure to end the more than two-year-old conflict.
General Assembly resolutions aren’t legally binding, but express the political will of the international community.
Explaining Pakistan’s position, Ambassador Masood Khan said that it’s vote in favour of the resolution was a signal of solidarity with the people of Syria, the Arab League, the Gulf States, the OIC and Syria’s neighbours.
“We understand the compelling imperatives of the sponsors of the resolution,” the Pakistan envoy told the 193-member assembly.
In Pakistan’s view, he added, the resolution does not give recognition to the Syrian National Coalition fighting President Bashar al-Asad’s regime, nor does it violate Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It however, allows the group (SNC) to send representative interlocutors for dialogue with the Syrian Government, directly or under the auspices of the UN.
Masood Khan also called for giving due weight to the Syrian Government’s assurances to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon not to use chemical or biological weapons.
“The resolution should have been more balanced to reflect objectively the reality on the ground by assigning responsibility to all sides for the worsening of the situation,” he said, adding that it does not adequately address the rise of terrorism in Syria. “Efforts to bring peace and stability in Syria will not succeed without adoption and pursuit of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.”
He also said that the time was not appropriate for a referral of the situation in Syria, or specific cases related it, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We would like to emphasize that this resolution should not become an instrument for division,” the Pakistani envoy said. “We hope that it will have positive impact on the revival of the Geneva process; and that it would help make progress towards a substantive dialogue leading to a political dispensation acceptable to Syrian Government and opposition. This resolution is not meant to supplant the Geneva process or prejudge its outcome.”
Under the terms of the resolution, the Assembly called for an “inclusive” Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system through the start of serious political dialogue between credible, empowered and mutually acceptable parties representing the Syrian authorities and the Syrian opposition.
The resolution condemns a litany of government human-rights abuses but only briefly mentions possible abuses by antigovernment armed groups, despite increasing rebel atrocities reported by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Russia argued that the resolution was unbalanced and threatens a planned peace conference announced by Russia and the U.S. for next month. The conference is in the early stages of planning with agreement of the warring parties to attend still being sought, diplomats said.
Alexander Pankin, Russia’s deputy ambassador, called the resolution “very harmful and destructive.” He said it is aimed at pushing an attempt to replace the official government of Syria and can only be seen as an encouragement to the rebels to keep fighting.
Pankin said the”resolution seeks to blame only the government” and ignoresterrorist activities by jihadists that have left hundreds of civilians dead, killings he said independent U.N. investigations recognized.
Rejecting the resolution, Bashar Ja’afari, Syria’s U.N. ambassador, said it “seeks to escalate the crisis and fuel violence by legitimizing arming the rebels.”
He said it also adopted an illegal recognition of certain factions of the external opposition as “the legitimate representative of the Syrian people,” adding that “this internally divided faction does not even represent the full spectra of the opposition itself, neither inside or outside Syria.”
South Africa complained that a request by the U.N.’s African group of nations to suspend the vote until after June’s conference was ignored. Numerous countries also told the Assembly that the resolution was drafted without consulting the full Assembly membership.
Here is the official voting record on the resolution;
IN FAVOUR: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal,Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Yemen.
AGAINST: Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
ABSTAIN: Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia.
ABSENT: Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Kiribati, Mauritania, Philippines, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan.