Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 October 2012
107. Deputy Anne Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the implementation of the responsibility to protect UN resolution for the deteriorating situation in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41837/12]
View answerIreland is a strong supporter of the concept of “responsibility to protect”, which continues to be developed and elucidated in discussions amongst UN member States. Under this concept, each individual State has the primary responsibility for the protection of its citizens. It must ensure their safety and security and work to prevent atrocities such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes – atrocities which have caused the concept of “responsibility to protect” to be developed in the first instance. Any objective appraisal of what has occurred in Syria over the past eighteen months will conclude that the Syrian Government has failed utterly in this basic responsibility. I pointed out in my address to the UN General Assembly on 28 September that the Assad Government is guilty of wholesale slaughter of its own people. I also made clear that, while the violence is indiscriminate and on an appalling scale, it is not confined to one side.
If the concept of “responsibility to protect” is to have any meaning or relevance for the Syrian people, it is incumbent on the UN Security Council, as the body charged with the maintenance of international peace and security under the UN Charter, to act with one voice in seeking to promote the earliest possible ceasefire and initiation of a political process leading to transition. That is why I also made clear in my address to the General Assembly that what is now needed, above all else, is a strong Security Council resolution which will authorise targeted sanctions. This must include a comprehensive arms embargo, against all those who are responsible for violating the human rights of the Syrian people. That is what the Syrian people want from us, and what they have a right to expect.
There must also be full accountability for human rights abuses. To prevent further atrocities now, and to save lives now, we must make it clear that atrocities will not go unpunished. That is why Ireland supports the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, by Switzerland and others for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. We will continue working to build up strong cross-regional support within the UN context for such a referral.
The Government will continue to work closely with the UN and international partners to bring about the earliest possible end to the suffering which the Syrian people have endured for too long and to ensure that there will be accountability for the many crimes and atrocities which have been perpetrated against them.
