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Syria crisis: Russia vows to veto UN vote on war crimes Russia and China veto UN move to refer Syria to ICC
(about 11 hours later)
The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on a resolution to refer the Syria crisis to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes by all sides. Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have referred the conflict in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The draft resolution has wide support, with over 50 countries behind the move. More than 60 countries supported the French-drafted text calling for an investigation into alleged war crimes being committed by both sides.
But Russia, one of the permanent five members of the council, said it will veto the resolution and called it a "publicity stunt." France's permanent representative said a veto "would cover up all crimes".
More than 150,000 people have been killed since the war began in 2011. But Russia's called it a "publicity stunt" that would hurt efforts to find a political solution to the crisis.
The BBC's UN correspondent, Nick Bryant, says Russia argues that the move will destroy any chance of a peaceful solution to the civil war. It is the fourth time Russia and China have blocked Western resolutions relating to the situation in Syria, where an estimated 160,000 people have been killed and 9.5 million others driven from the homes since 2011.
But France's ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, dismissed Moscow's claim, saying the resolution would not "undermine the political process because there is no political process." 'Boringly predictable'
The civil war in Syria is now into its fourth year and peace talks have continually failed to yield any significant agreement. The 13 other members of the Security Council voted on Thursday in favour of the draft resolution, which condemned the "widespread violation" of human rights and international humanitarian law by Syrian government forces, as well as abuses by "non-state armed groups".
No progress It called for an ICC investigation, drawing on evidence collected by the UN Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry.
Earlier this month, the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, stepped down after more than 18 months in the job. France put forward the draft after the collapse of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva in January and February, and amid growing horror at atrocities committed by both sides, reports the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in New York.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the veteran diplomat but admitted the UN had "not been able to make any progress" in Syria. Before the vote, French permanent representative Gerard Araud said shared moral values had to overcome longstanding divisions over Syria on the Security Council.
He said that Mr Brahimi had faced "almost impossible odds" because the international community was "hopelessly divided." "A veto would cover up all crimes. It would be vetoing justice," he warned.
Lobbying around the resolution intensified this week, with 58 countries taking the unusual step of calling on all 193 UN member states to show their support by co-sponsoring the resolution. The UN's Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, meanwhile urged Security Council members to "put an end to this long nightmare".
But Russia, President Assad's strongest ally, says it will use its veto once again. But Russian permanent representative Vitaly Churkin told reporters as he walked into the meeting: "I'm going to be boringly predictable."
Correspondents say that it will be the fourth time Moscow has fended off Western resolutions at the UN since the Syria crisis erupted three years ago. The Syrian government had called the resolution "biased" and an effort to "sabotage any chance of peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis led by the Syrian people themselves".
Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, said the French-drafted resolution was "simply a publicity stunt which will have a detrimental effect, unfortunately, on our joint efforts in trying to resolve politically the crisis in Syria." China had publicly remained silent in the lead-up to the vote.
Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), so the only way it can be referred to The Hague tribunal is by the Security Council. The Syrian opposition National Coalition called the vetoes a "disgrace".
The council has previously referred conflicts in Darfur and Libya to the court, but not with so many non-council members signing on in support. US envoy Samantha Power said that because of Russia and China's decision "to back the Syrian regime no matter what it does, the Syrian people will not see justice".
Western powers say Syrian government forces have committed numerous war crimes, including systematic torture, chemical attacks and indiscriminate "barrel bomb" campaigns. "There should be accountability for those members of the council who prevented accountability," she added, before reading out the testimony of alleged Syrian war crimes victims.
Jihadist rebels have meanwhile been accused of carrying out mass executions of detainees. Rwanda's Eugene Richard Gasana said: "This council cannot be inured to mass tragedies."
Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC. Unless the government ratifies the treaty or accepts the jurisdiction of the court through a declaration, the ICC can only obtain jurisdiction if the Security Council refers the situation there to the court.
The Security Council has previously referred conflicts in Darfur and Libya to the court, but not with so many countries signing on in support.