UN Security Council unifies to approve first wave of cease-fire observers for Syria

For the first time since the Syrian conflict began more than a year ago, the U.N. Security Council on Saturday united behind a legally binding resolution calling for violence to end immediately and peace talks to begin to move the authoritarian country toward democracy.

The resolution by the previously divided council sent a message to the Syrian government and opposition fighters that the U.N.’s most powerful body wants to see international envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan fully implemented immediately — and it will consider “further steps” if it isn’t.

Russia and China vetoed two previous resolutions that would have condemned Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government for its bloody crackdown on protesters, calling them unbalanced because they demanded that the government stop attacks, but not the opposition. Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, accused Western nations of seeking regime change.

But the Russians and Chinese, allies of Assad’s government, joined the U.S. and European opponents of the Syrian regime in supporting this resolution which backs Annan’s plan initially by authorizing the deployment of the first wave of U.N. military observers to monitor a fragile cease-fire that held fairly well for two days but was broken more seriously on Saturday.

Annan welcomed the Security Council action, saying he and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “were both very relieved and happy that the council has passed a unanimous resolution authorizing the deployment of the observers, and we will try to get them in there as quickly as possible.”

Ban urged the international community to unite and “do all … we can in one voice to help this cessation of violence continue.”

Ban also announced that the U.N. would convene a “humanitarian forum” in Geneva on April 20 to discuss dealing with one million people displaced inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the proposal by Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, “offers the last opportunity to finally put an end to the bloodshed.”

The relative de-escalation of violence since the cease-fire took effect April 12 is “a tentative and positive first step towards ending the crisis,” he said. “But it is just that — a first step. Tens of innocent civilians have been killed since April 12. And heavy weapons remain deployed in population centres.”

The resolution calls on both sides to immediately “cease all armed violence in all its forms” and condemns “the widespread violations of human rights by the Syrian authorities, as well as any human rights abuses by armed groups.” It calls on Assad’s government to “visibly” implement its commitment to pull troops and heavy weapons out of towns and cities and return them to barracks.

“Today, with this resolution, the Security Council has indicated it will judge the Syrian regime by its actions, not its words,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said. “In doing so, the council has taken a step towards fulfilling its own responsibilities. And it’s about time.”

She said the shelling of the central city of Homs and shooting of innocent mourners at a funeral in Aleppo on Saturday “casts serious doubts yet again on the regimes commitment to a cessation of violence.”

The U.S. and German ambassadors praised the restraint shown by opposition fighters. Britain’s Lyall Grant said the opposition must refrain from violence “and ensure that it gives the regime no excuse to renege on its commitments.”

The resolution calls for the deployment of an advance team of up to 30 unarmed military observers to initiate contacts with both sides and begin to report on whether there has been “a full cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties.” If there is a sustained cease-fire the council said it will deploy a larger force, which Ban said will include about 250 observers.

Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday an advance team of “around 10 or 12” observers was “standing by” to fly to Damascus once the resolution was adopted.

The resolution calls on the Syrian government to ensure “full, unimpeded, and immediate freedom of movement and access” for the advance team and the larger mission that will follow, and allow the observers “freely and privately to communicate with individuals throughout Syria without retaliation against any person as a result of interaction with the mission.”

Russia tried unsuccessfully to water down that provision, but Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution was “more balanced” than the original text.

“There have been too many casualties, too much suffering … with too many destructive consequences if the crisis continues to ratchet up,” not only for Syria but for the region, Churkin warned.

Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari told the council his country “has taken serious measures toward implementing … the six-point plan.” He said the government is currently negotiating with Annan and his team “over the drafting of the special protocol that would guarantee the deployment of a team of observers.”