On
Syria, Latin
Absence from
ICC Call, Pillay's
Benetech, Late
Letters
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 18 --
After the
Syria briefing
and stakeout
by Navi
Pillay, UN
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights, now it
is announced
that five
Security
Council member
will come to
issue a joint
statement:
France, United
Kingdom,
Australia,
Luxembourg and
the
Republic of
Korea.
These
five signed on
to the letter
urging the
Council --
that is,
themselves --
to refer Syria
to the
International
Criminal
Court. The
US, which
hasn't joined
the ICC,
didn't dare
sign on to the
letter
(though the US
did vote to
refer Libya to
the ICC in
Security
Council
Resolution
1970.)
Among
members of the
Security
Council not
signing on to
the ICC call
coordinated by
Switzerland,
and not listed
in the UN
Media Alert
for
the
post-Pillay
joint
statement are
Guatemala and
Argentina --
the
country of
former ICC
prosecutor
Luis Moreno
Ocampo.
Meanwhile,
the
January 18 UN
Journal, on a
seven and a
half month
delay, made
public letters
from Syria
dated May 31,
2011. Earlier
this week
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari
complained
about the
UN delaying
publication of
its
submissions to
the Security
Council,
which have
included lists
of foreign
fighters
killed in
Syria.
Today,
Inner City
Press is putting
online a copy
of Syria's
response to
the
US State
Department
funded
Benetech's
report on
deaths in
Syria,
commissioned
for $25,000 by
Pillay's
office --
click here for
that, here for
the most
recent of
Inner City
Press' five
stories on
the topic.
And watch this
site.
, 
