The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday demanding Syria's full co-operation with a investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister and warning of possible “further action” if it doesn't...
The three co-sponsors agreed to drop a direct threat of sanctions against Syria in order to get support from Russia and China, which opposed sanctions while the investigation is still under way. Nonetheless, the resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which is militarily enforceable.
The resolution requires Syria to detain anyone the UN investigators consider a suspect and let investigators determine the location and conditions under which the individual would be questioned. It also would freeze assets and impose a travel ban on anyone identified as a suspect by the commission.
There's a lot to like about the final resolution as compared to earlier drafts. While recent press focused on the dispute as to whether or not sanctions would be explicitly mentioned (and they aren't), the issue of greater concern was the U.S.' initial demand that the resolution also condemn Syria for actions along the border with Iraq. The application of Chapter VII seems potentially problematic, but at the very least any sanctions would require a new Security Council resolution, and one presumes those would be applied before any military action would be taken.
Unfortunately, the agreement on today's resolution will probably give rise to future disagreements on its meaning. But as long as "future action" isn't given the same ridiculous scope once applied to "serious consequences", today's resolution should help show the world's desire to deal with Syria's non-cooperation on the Hariri investigation firmly but peacefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment