Careful about message

Moscow should reconsider its intention to block the passing of a UN Security Council resolution aiming to refer all perpetrators of war crimes or crimes against humanity committed in Syria over the past three years to the International Criminal Court.

Such referral would not be prejudicial to any side, thus not to the Syrian government, which Russia seeks to protect.

All the sponsors of the draft resolution wanted was to have all such crimes, irrespective of who committed them, further investigated, with a view to holding any side found guilty accountable in due course.

The warring parties in Syria have committed countless crimes that cannot go unpunished. Those responsible must be pursued, tried and punished correspondingly.

By blocking such a step, Russia would effectively put itself in the dock, as attempting to frustrate the wheels of justice.

Russia’s image as a superpower that upholds international law, in this case, the international criminal law, would thus be in question.

If Moscow wishes to assist the Damascus government in its fight against the so-called opposition, it can very well do so. But attempting to impede the move to bring to justice all those found guilty of having committed crimes under the ICC statute would definitely be wrong.

There is still time and room for Russia to revise its position and help introduce the draft resolution the amendments necessary to make it more balanced, from its point of view.

Moscow stood by Damascus when it used chemical weapons and continued to stand by it when it used barrel bombs, rockets and warplanes to silence the people.

The Russian Federation needs to be careful about the message it sends to the international community on the way it views, and treats, international crimes.