The failure of the United Nations to take decisive action on Syria shows it is no longer "fit for purpose" and is becoming "redundant as a guardian of global peace", Amnesty International has reported.
The head of the UN observer team, General Major Robert Mood of Norway Photo: AFP
By Alex Spillius, Diplomatic Correspondent
7:00AM BST 24 May 2012
The world body had failed in its basic duty after Russia and China blocked several resolutions against the Bashar al-Assad regime, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary general, launching its annual report.
The UN Security Council's charter, he said, was about taking "prompt and effective action" to protect vulnerable people, but "in the case of Syria it has done neither".
"We saw something extraordinary in 2011, as people demanded their rights, dignity and justice and stood up to beatings, bullets and tanks. But in sharp contrast there was an appalling failure of global leadership," he said.
"What is happening in Syria is effectively crimes against humanity, but the Security Council just watched for months and months.
"In this day and age it is simply unacceptable that thousands of lives have been lost because the Security Council is not fit for purpose."
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Only after a year of protests did the UN come up with "a feeble resolution that allowed a handful of UN observers into Syria".
Russia, which is a major arms supplier to Syria, used its veto to stymie calls for sanctions, an arms embargo or to refer Syria's leaders to the International Criminal Court.
Saying that the global body "seemed tired, out of step and anachronistic", Mr Shetty argued that the power of veto held by the permanent five members – Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States – had been deployed over the years too freely to serve their political and commercial interests.
"If the veto is used, there should be a clear explanation of why, an obligation to justify such action," he said.
The report highlighted remarkable strides in human rights last year, with anti-democratic leaders overthrown in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya, and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi freed from house arrest to stand for election.
But it said that emerging powers such as India, Brazil and South Africa were too often complicit in countenancing human rights abuses through their silence at the UN.
"They claim to be independent. India is the biggest democracy in the world and South Africa's story is all about human rights.
"They are starting to flex their economic muscle but have been hiding behind the big powers in the political sphere," said Mr Shetty.
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