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STORY: UN / SYRIA VOTE
TRT:3:24
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /RUSSIAN /ARABIC /NATS
DATELINE: 12 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
12 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Various shots, Council votes
4. UPSOUND (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the US to the United Nations and President of the Security Council:
“The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the Council.”
5. Wide shot, Council
6. Close up, Syrian delegate
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Rycoft, Permanent Representative of the UK to the United Nations:
“We once again encountered a Russian veto. The eight time that Russia has used its veto to protect the Syrian regime. This one is even more regrettable given that Russia was the architect of the 2013 agreement to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons programme. An initiative that has demonstrably failed.”
8. Close up, Russian delegation
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Rycoft, Permanent Representative of the UK to the United Nations:
“How could anyone look at the faces of lifeless children and choose to veto a resolution condemning those deaths. It is indefensible that Russia has chosen to protect the perpetrators of these attacks rather than work with the rest of the international community to condemn them.”
10. Wide shot, Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Safronkov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“The main problem was that the draft resolution by the troika appointed the guilty party prior to an independent and objective investigation. That is an approach which is incompatible with the legal norms. You did know what our concerns are, but once again you placed your unilateral and therefore doomed draft to a vote. What has this become, a national sport to intentionally undermine a unity?”
12. Wide shot, Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the US to the United Nations:
“Once more, this vote could have been a moment when Russia saw that its interests do not lie with the murderous dictator but rather with the many countries and the international community including those across the Middle East that want to end this conflict. By its failure Russia will continue to be isolated.”
14. Wide shot, Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the US to the United Nations:
“To Assad and the Syrian government; you have no friends in the world after your horrible actions. The United States is watching your actions very closely. The days of your arrogance and disregard for humanity are over. Your excuses will no longer be heard. I suggest you look at this vote very carefully and heed this warning.”
16. Wide shot, Syrian delegation
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Ja’afari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“Syria stresses its preparedness to ensure access by the mission to the Shayrat airbase in order to ascertain whether Sarin had been or is stockpiled there or not. As of the town of Khan Shaykhun, regrettably I am forced to tell you that the access there must be guaranteed by Jabhat Al Nusra terrorist group.”
18. Wide shot, Council
With a ‘no’ vote from permanent member Russia, the United Nations Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria and called on the Government to cooperate with an investigation into the incident.
The UK ambassador Matthew Rycoft said “it is indefensible that Russia has chosen to protect the perpetrators of these attacks rather than work with the rest of the international community to condemn them.”
While 10 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour, Russia and Bolivia rejected the text, as China, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained. A negative vote – or veto – from one of the Council’s five permanent members means a resolution cannot be adopted.
Explaining the reason for the veto, Vladimir Safronkov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations said “the main problem was that the draft resolution by the troika appointed the guilty party prior to an independent and objective investigation.”
The proposed measure – drafted by France, the United Kingdom and the United States would have strongly condemned “the reported use of chemical weapons in the [Syria], in particular the attack on Khan Shaykhun,” the site of last week’s incident that has drawn increasing global attention.
The measure would and also had called on the Syrian Government to comply with relevant recommendations of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapon’s (OPCW) Fact Finding Mission (FFM) and the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the US to the United Nations issued a warning to the Syrian government saying “the United States is watching your actions very closely.”
Haley also said “the days of your arrogance and disregard for humanity are over. Your excuses will no longer be heard. I suggest you look at this vote very carefully and heed this warning.”
In February, Russia and China vetoed a measure that would have imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and entities linked to the use of chemical weapons in cases where responsibility was established by the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
Although the Council came together on 19 December to unanimously adopt a resolution demanding that all parties to the Syrian conflict ensure immediate and unhindered access for the monitoring of evacuations from eastern Aleppo, over the past five years, Russia has vetoed eight Council texts on the Syrian conflict, while China has vetoed six of those eight.
As the Syrian crisis enters its seventh year, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a conflict marked by unparalleled suffering, destruction and disregard for human life. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 13.5 million people require humanitarian assistance. Moreover, some 6.3 million have been internally displaced by violence.
