dagblog - Comments for "Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack"

Someone is going to be

Peter — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 22:13:28 +0000

In reply to Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack

Someone is going to be injured by all the "spin" coming from these unnamed Western sources commenting on an unreleased report. At least the UN officials quoted debunked the headline from the article and honestly countered the propaganda coming from the West/US. Circumstantial evidence is not proof and the USG hasn't provided any verifiable evidence because it has none. What Moon thinks or says off the record is irrelevant, he is just a figurehead and must keep his personal feelings subdued and do his job.

A reminder of what Ban said

artappraiser — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:38:51 +0000

In reply to UN chief slams Syrian

A reminder of what Ban said officially on Monday:

Back from G20, Ban considering proposals to prompt political solution to Syria crisis
U.N. News Centre

9 September 2013 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that two-and-half years of conflict in Syria have produced only “embarrassing paralysis” in the Security Council and that he was considering proposals to the 15-member body in the search for a political solution.

In his first press conference since returning to New York from the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Mr. Ban said that should a UN weapons team confirm use of chemical agents in the 21 August incident in Syria, it would be an “abominable crime” and the international community “would certainly have to do something about it.”

“The Syrian people need peace,” he declared.

“Should Dr. Sellström's report confirm the use of chemical weapons, then this would surely be something around which the Security Council could unite in response - and indeed something that should merit universal condemnation,” Mr. Ban told reporters.

The UN chief added that he is already considering “certain proposals that I could make to the Security Council” when presenting the investigation team's report.

Those include urging the Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria's chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed, Mr. Ban said.

He also urged Damascus to become a party to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Syria is not a party CWC, but it is a party to the Geneva (Protocol) of 1925 which prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons, according to the OPCW.

In response to a question about how quickly the UN can act, if Syria agrees to a transfer of its alleged chemical weapons stock under international control, Mr. Ban said he is sure that the international community will take “very swift action” to make safely store and destroy the chemical weapons stocks [....]

UN Secretary General,

artappraiser — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:02:30 +0000

In reply to UN chief slams Syrian

UN Secretary General, apparently not realizing he was being recorded, said Syria's Assad "has committed many crimes against humanity."
— Matt Viser (@mviser) September 13, 2013

Via The Guardian's Live Blog which also says:

UPDATE: AP explains:

The secretary-general thought his speech and response to questions from a women's group were not being broadcast, but they were shown on U.N. television.

UN chief slams Syrian

artappraiser — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 18:50:53 +0000

In reply to Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack

UN chief slams Syrian president
Ban Ki-moon says Assad committed "crimes against humanity" while speaking at UN event in New York.
Al Jazeera, 13 Sept., 2013

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has heavily criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during unguarded comments made during a UN event. Speaking at the International Women's Forum on Friday, Ban said Assad has "carried out many crimes against humanity" and that there must be "accountability" once war is over.

"I believe the report will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used," said Ban.

Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN in New York, said it appeared that Ban believed he was speaking off the record.

"The UN secretary-general was speaking at an event, the International Women's Forum, and the proceedings of that event were being broadcast around the UN on the internal television system," he said. "But, it seems Ban Ki-moon thought it was a private event."

Our correspondent said the remarks offered some insight into what the UN and its leader really thought about Syria and President Assad.

"He is normally very measured in expressing his views on Syria, because of his role in the UN," he said. "It seems from these unguarded comments that Ban believes he knows what he is going to hear."

Hospital attacks

The secretary-general's comments come as a separate UN report was released saying Syrian government forces are bombing and shelling hospitals in rebel-held areas to prevent sick and wounded from getting treatment, acts which constitute war crimes.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad purposefully denied people medical care as a "weapon of war", UN investigators added in a report released on Friday.

They also had details of a smaller number of incidents when rebel forces attacked hospitals.

According to the UN report on hospital attacks, they started as violence mounted in Syria's civil war in early 2012 and were continuing, it added.

Neither Assad's nor rebel forces immediately responded to the report's allegations, to be discussed on Monday in Geneva at a debate at the UN Human Rights Council.

The Syrian army has occupied hospitals, using them as bases for snipers, tanks and soldiers, according to the report.

Ambulance drivers, nurses and doctors have been attacked, arrested, tortured or disappeared in "insidious" violations of international law.

"Intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places containing the sick and the wounded and against medical units using the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem is a war crime in non-international armed conflict," the independent investigators said, referring to a legal term for civil war.

Patients beaten [....]

Syria crisis: Kerry insists

artappraiser — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:26:14 +0000

In reply to Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack

Syria crisis: Kerry insists UN deal must include 'consequences' – live updates, Guardian.com, 12 Sept., 2013

• Lavrov, Kerry hold joint news conference in Geneva
• Kerry rejects Assad demand for 30 days to list weapons
• Assad says he will engage UN when US 'stops threatening'
• Read the latest blog summary

dagblog - Comments for "Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack"

Someone is going to be

A reminder of what Ban said

UN Secretary General,

UN chief slams Syrian

Syria crisis: Kerry insists

Syria crisis: Kerry insists UN deal must include 'consequences' – live updates, Guardian.com, 12 Sept., 2013