One-Sided Human Rights Council Vote on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
On March 28, UN Human Rights Council members voted 32 - 4 to renew investigating war crimes in Syria for another year. Eleven members abstained.
Washington, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Morocco initiated the resolution.
Other HRC members were bullied for support. Washington and Western partners threatened refusers with consequences.
Russia, China, Venezuela and Cuba voted no. So-called investigations are biased. They're one-sided. They largely blame Assad for insurgent crimes. They do so duplicitously.
UK ambassador Karen Piece said three resolution aims include:
• continuing to investigating human rights abuses;
• condemning violators; and
• supporting efforts to hold culpable parties accountable.
Doing so is almost entirely one-way. Victims are blamed for insurgent crimes.
Pierce lied saying: "We believe that this resolution represents a measured response to the worst human rights situation that this council has ever faced."
She stopped short of explaining her government's culpability. It's directly involved in Obama's war on Syria. So are other rogue EU partners, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, other Gulf states and Jordan.
Commission of Inquiry for Syria chairman Paulo Pinheiro prepared spurious lists of people and groups he holds responsible for Syrian crimes. It includes:
• Syrian intelligence branches and officials;
• government detention facility officials;
• Syrian military commanders;
• airport officials from which attacks are planned and executed; and
• leaders of armed groups.
Syria's HRC envoy Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui called its resolution biased against his government. It's wrongfully blamed for Western-supported death squad crimes.
Russia's Foreign Ministry denounced the resolution, saying:
"For instance, while enumerating the violations of human rights, the resolution does not make any mention of violence on the part of rebels that was described in (HRC's) report in detail…"
It includes "mass executions, abductions of women and children, sexual violence, the use of children soldiers, mortar shelling of densely populated areas, as well as the terrorist acts committed by the groups making up the Syrian Free Army and closely linked to the Islamic Front."
Western nations call some groups committing atrocities and other high crimes Syria's "moderate opposition," Russia's Foreign Ministry added.
They're cold-blooded killers. Washington and rogue partners support them. They plan arming them more heavily.
They intend recruiting larger numbers of like-minded extremists. They plan stepped up efforts to oust Assad. They likely intend Libya 2.0.
Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed concern about refusing Moscow's suggestion to condemn terrorism in Syria.
"The Russian side has been actively working with a group of co-authors and proposed a number of amendments for a balanced text," it said.
"Most of our proposals, however, were not taken into account."
“This is despite the fact that the agreed counter-terrorism clause is in Resolution 2139 of the UN Security Council," it added.
Duplicitous HRC members exceeded their mandate. They urged Syria to accelerate eliminating its chemical weapons.
They're being disposed of responsibly. "The UN Council on Human Rights is not authorized to interfere in the process, to dictate priorities and decide which provisions of the Geneva communique need special attention," Russia's Foreign Ministry stressed.
Western-supported Syrian violence claimed tens of thousands of lives. Many more were injured. Mostly civilians are affected.
Death squad invaders target Assad loyalists. Dozens die daily. Obama's war on Syria entered its fourth year. He bears full responsibility for mass slaughter and destruction.
He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars. He's ravaging one country after another lawlessly. He wants multiple imperial trophies collected.
He targets anyone considered a state enemy for extrajudicial assassination. He governs by diktat. He's got more death and destruction in mind.
He's waging war on humanity. He's doing it at home and abroad. He exceeds the worst of his predecessors.
He's the greatest menace of our time. He threatens world peace. He risks global war. He's surrounded by likeminded neocon extremists.
They deplore peace. They promote war. They want unchallenged global dominance. They're willing to destroy planet earth to own it.
Lunatics think this way. They operate this way. They do so extrajudicially. They ravage and destroy countries indiscriminately. They falsely claim humanitarian intervention.
They're destroying humanity to save it. They infest Washington. They target Americans like others abroad. They tolerate no opposition.
Anything goes is policy. Business as usual persists. Powerful interests control things. They partner with likeminded extremists. No one is safe anywhere with them around.
A Final Comment
Israel is a lawless rogue state. It's the Middle East's most ruthless regime. It wages wars on Lebanon and Palestine. It bombs Syria.
It gets away with murder and other high crimes too grave to ignore. Justice is systematically denied.
Israel's High Court most often is rubber-stamp. On March 30, RT International headlined "Israeli Supreme Court to hear war crimes case against top officials - report."
RT cited Jonathan Cook's article titled "Israel to consider war crimes case," saying:
Palestinian Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel lawyer Marwan Dalal brought charges. He's an Israeli citizen.
He's the only Palestinian jurist "to have served as a senior prosecutor in one of the international criminal courts at The Hague in the Netherlands."
On April 2, Israel's High Court for the first time will hear evidence of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza.
A 52-page petition was submitted. It addressed three Israeli operations. They include:
• its preemptive 2006 Lebanon war;
• its Operation Cast Lead Gaza aggression (December 2008 - January 2009,) and
• murdering nine Turkish Mavi Marmara Gaza humanitarian mission activists in May 2010 in cold blood.
Evidence against Israel is overwhelming. Culpability is indisputable. Systematic coverup whitewashed it. Independent reports were denounced.
Israel remains unaccountable for high crimes too grave to ignore. It's high time things changed. Don't expect Israeli Supreme Court justices to do it.
It won't matter either way. Israel does what it wants whatever they rule. It ignored the World Court calling its Apartheid Wall illegal.
It ordered it dismantled. It mandated compensation for victims. Justice was systematically denied. Lawless Israeli settlements expand exponentially.
Besieged Gazans struggle daily to survive. They endure slow-motion genocide. They live in the world's largest open-air prison. Multiple daily Israeli incursions target West Bank Palestinian communities.
Nonviolent civilians are ruthlessly persecuted. Praying to the wrong God is criminalized.
Soldiers shoot children for target practice. Fishermen are attacked at sea. Settlers freely commit vandalism. Once in a while murder. Israeli security forces do nothing to stop them.
High Court justices will hear "strong factual and legal findings," said Cook. They're from public sources.
They include official Israeli inquiries. They implicate high-ranking military and government officials.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, current Justice Minister/former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and perhaps current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are vulnerable.
So are two former IDF chiefs of staff, a former domestic intelligence chief, and a former defense minister.
Dalal plans arguing that Israeli police are legally required to investigate charges relating to possible war crimes.
Prosecutors must order them. "The evidence is in the public realm and obliges Israeli prosecutors to order investigations," he said.
"The failure to do so is unreasonable conduct and the court must rectify the matter."
Indisputable war crimes were committed. Clear evidence proves them. Claiming otherwise doesn't wash. Getting High Court justices to agree is another matter entirely.
Most often they rubber-stamp official policy. A conservative majority makes it more likely. B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said:
"There has been no discussion in Israel of the responsibility of high-ranking officials for issuing apparently illegal orders such as using white phosphorus in built-up areas, the adoption of flexible open-fire regulations, and a policy of targeting certain population groups, such as males over a certain age."
Rogue states operate this way. Israel is one of the world's most ruthless. It's a democracy in name only. Jews get a sham version.
Muslims are considered subhumans. Israeli Arabs are considered fifth columns threats. Palestinians have no rights whatever.
Institutionalized racism is official policy. Equity, peace and justice are non-starters. Jews alone have rights.
Israel's gulag alone attests to its barbarity. Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners languish inside. Horrific treatment occurs daily.
Proper food and medical care are denied. Brutal treatment is standard practice. International law is systematically violated. Israel remains unaccountable for high crimes.
Don't expect High Court members to hold culpable officials accountable. Don't expect Israeli war criminals to be punished.
Business as usual persists. Long denied justice remains a distant dream.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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