At
UN
on Syria PRST,
Online Here,
Silence
Extended to
2:30, Probe
Dropped
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 3 -- On
Syria
a series of
compromises
in the UN
Security
Council led to
a Presidential
Statement,
not
resolution,
slated
forpossible
adoption at 3
pm on
Wednesday.
Inner City
Press has
obtained the
final draft,
and puts
it online
here.
At 12:45,
Hardeep Singh
Puri, the
Council's
president for
August, told
Inner City
Press that the
silence
procedure on
the draft had
been extended
from 1 to
2:30. He
called
adoption
"doable."
The
European
members had
proposed a
resolution,
but settled
for a
Presidential
Statement.
Russian
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
told the
press that
this so-called
PRST was a
format more
appropriate
for the
situation of
Syria.
Brazil,
operating
on the
principles of
its IBSA
grouping with
India and
South Africa,
had on Tuesday
proposed a
text which
condemned
violence
against
security
forces. As UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant
explained to
the Press, the
only remaining
reference in
this
direction is a
call to end
violence by
all sides and
against
"reprisals
against state
institutions."
The
so-called
blended text
by the UK and
Brazil had
called for an
investigation
of
human rights
violations.
This has been
removed,
Churkin said,
adding
that it was
not a Russia's
request.
Inner
City Press
asked the UK's
Mark Lyall
Grant about
it. He said it
came out at
the
request of
"one member...
not Russia or
China." He
declined, at
least on the
record, to
identify which
country
demanded
it come out.
Inner
City Press
asked Hardeep
Singh Puri
which country
asked for it
to come out.
It's
more complex,
he said. The
question was
who would
conduct the
investigation.
If you say the
Syrian
authorities
are committing
the
violations,
how can they
investigate
themselves?
Amb. Maria
Viotti of
Brazil, with
Hardeep of
India and
Churkin:
Brazil points
now shown
A
Presidential
Statement is
said to
require 15-0
unanimity:
that is, the
concordance
of Lebanon,
which blocked
the first
proposed
Council
statement on
Syria.
Wednesday
there was talk
of precedents
to get around
this,
talk of China
disassociating
itself from
decision on
the
demarcation
of the Iraq -
Kuwait border,
and of a UN
disassociation
"in
another way."
Council
members
were given
until 1 pm --
now 2:30 -- to
break silence,
and if not, to
come to a
formal meeting
at 3 to adopt
it. Watch this
site.
* * *
Here
is the text
with five
brackets sent
to capitals
Tuesday night:
Express
grave
concern at the
deteriorating
situation in
Syria, and
express
profound
regret
at the death
of many
hundreds of
people.
Condemn
systematic
violations of
human rights
and the use of
force against
[unarmed]
civilians
[by the Syrian
authorities].
Call
for
an immediate
end to all
violence [,
including
violence
against
security
forces],
and
urge all sides
to act with
utmost
restraint, and
to refrain
from
reprisals.
Call
on
the Syrian
authorities to
fully respect
human rights
and to comply
with their
obligations
under
applicable
international
law, and call
for a credible
and
impartial
national
investigation
into the
violence in
Syria. Those
responsible
for the
violence
should
be held
accountable.
Note
the
announced
commitments by
the Syrian
authorities to
reform, and
regret the
lack
of progress in
implementation,
and call upon
the Syrian
Government to
implement
their
commitments.
Reaffirm
its
strong
commitment to
the
sovereignty,
independence,
and
territorial
integrity
of Syria.
Stress
that
the only
solution to
the current
crisis in
Syria is
through an
inclusive and
Syrian-led
political
process, with
the aim of
effectively
addressing the
legitimate
aspirations
and concerns
of the
population
which will
allow the full
exercise of
fundamental
freedoms for
its entire
population,
including that
of expression
and peaceful
assembly.
Call
on
the Syrian
authorities to
alleviate the
humanitarian
situation in
crisis areas
[by
ceasing
military
operations
against
affected
towns], to
allow
[immediate
and]
unhindered
access
for
international
humanitarian
agencies and
workers, and
cooperate
fully with
the
Office of the
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights
[mission].
[Request
the
Secretary-General
to update the
Security
Council on the
situation
in Syria
within
7 days.]
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