Un Assembly Condemns Escalation Of Violence In Syria, Calls For Political Transition

[News_Editor]

<p>NEW YORK CITY (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution which condemns the continuing escalation of violence in Syria and reiterated its call for rapid progress on a political transition, calling it the best opportunity to end the civil war.

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<p>Adopted by a vote of 107 in favor to 12 against, with 59 abstentions, the Assembly text expressed the body's outrage at the "rapidly increasing death toll" in Syria, which the UN estimates to be no less than 80,000. The resolution also strongly condemned the Syrian government for increasingly turning to heavy weapons and condemned "widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

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<p>Wednesday's resolution marked the fifth one by the 193-member body since March 2011, when the crisis in Syria began as a pro-democracy protest movement, similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa. The Syrian government violently cracked down on the protests, setting off an armed conflict between pro-Assad forces and anti-government forces. A number of jihadist groups have since joined the fight against Assad's regime.

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<p>The Arab-led resolution requests the international community to provide "urgent" financial support to host countries to enable them to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees and affected communities. It also requests the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to submit a report to the Assembly within 90 days "on the very dire situation" of IDPs in the country.

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<p>"Over the past 800 days, the conflict has continued to escalate, threatening the establishment of ethnic or sectarian fiefdoms - thus gravely imperilling the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," said UN General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic. "Violence is begetting more violence; hatred, more hatred - carving deeper and deeper wounds into Syria's society."

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<p>Jeremic added: "If we are unable to do anything to stop this tragedy, then how can we sustain the moral credibility of this Organization? It is high time to say 'enough is enough,' enough to complacency and enough to fratricide. .. Succumbing to the despondency of the status quo is a prescription for a disastrous future."

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<p>Jeremic said the organization believes at least 80,000 people, many of them civilians, have died since the start of the conflict, and more than 1.3 million others have fled to neighboring countries since the start of the uprising in 2011. Opposition groups estimate the number of deaths is far higher, but those figures cannot be independently verified.

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<p>"We should strive to build on the agreement reached by the Action Group for Syria last June in Geneva, and reinvigorated a few days ago in Moscow, to get the political process off the ground, enabling the citizens of Syria to begin reconciliation and freely determine their nationâs future," he said.

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<p>Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'Afari expressed his surprise that the resolution was tabled under the Assembly's agenda item on the "prevention of armed conflict" because he believes its content contradicted that purpose. He said it sought to 'escalate violence' by legitimizing the provision of weapons to terrorists in Syria and "by recognizing one faction of the opposition as the Syrian people's legitimate representative."

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<p>He claimed that whenever a political solution looked likely, terrorist activity increased and UN Member States aborted their efforts to find a political solution. He added that al-Qaeda-linked terrorists are now operating in Syria as a result of the "involvement of intelligence agencies of well-known States" and that those terrorists were committing "unprecedented savage crimes" and human rights violations.

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<p>Ja'Afari stressed that the Syrian government had reacted positively to peace initiatives and reiterated his commitment to achieving a comprehensive national dialogue that would include the opposition. He called on opposition forces that rejected dialogue to adhere to the will of the "great majority of the Syrian people," which favored a political solution.

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<p>Nearly 30 other delegations also took the floor, with some questioning "the motive behind the text - regime change - which has been clear from the start," while others urged delegations to "look at the resolution honestly; look at the words on the page, which clearly call for a speedy political transition in Syria."

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<p>Those urging the Assembly to reject the text said the resolution bestowed authority on the National Coalition which could only be exercised by democratically elected officials. Still other speakers saw the resolution as "counterproductive" in light of an agreement reached by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to convene an international meeting on a political transition in Syria.

</p> <p> (Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].) </p>