New York: 5/10/2011: Russia and China thwarted a Security Council proposal to condemn Syria and to mount pressure on the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad with economic sanctions.
Nine Security Council members, including the United States, United Kingdom, and France, voted for the proposal, while four members abstained.
The proposal put forward by the French delegation has been circulating among the delegations in the past month. Lately, it had been reported that the proposal had been softened, and the proposal voted on Tuesday did not include any sanctions, but rather included warnings that sanctions would be put forward if the Assad regime continued oppressing its protesting citizens.
Despite this, Russia and China opposed the proposal, and due to their veto power had the proposal suppressed.
According to a report recently published by the UN, 2,700 Syrian citizens have been killed by Syrian security forces during the suppression of protests that have engulfed the country in recent months.
The U.S. representative to the UN, Susan E. Rice, said, following the vote: “[Syria] is on the wrong side of history. It is not going to get what it seeks by the continual repression and killing and imprisoning of its people. It doesn’t work and it won’t succeed, and sooner or later that will be self-evident.”
Rice said Washington was outraged and that it was time for the Security Council to adopt "tough targeted sanctions" on Syria.
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