Wang Min, the deputy Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the remarks after UN Security Council's meeting where Russia and China, two permanent members of the Council, vetoed a draft resolution intended to refer the Syrian civil war to the ICC Thursday morning.
"China believes that any action to seek recourse to ICC for prosecuting perpetrators of serious violations should be conducted based on the premise of respecting state judicial sovereignty and respecting the principle of complementary," Wang said.
Though the efforts to seek political settlement to the issue of Syria have encountered difficulties, the international community should be patient and firm with confidence, and stick to the overall direction of the political settlement, he said.
"What is most urgently needed now is to urge the government of Syria and opposition to immediately start a ceasefire and end violence so that the third round of the Geneva negotiations can be resumed to push forward the political process and start the political transition," Wang went on.
"Under the current circumstances," he stressed, "to forcibly refer the situation of Syria to the ICC is neither conducive to building trust among all the parties in Syria, or to the early resumption of the negotiations in Geneva, it will only jeopardize the efforts made by the international community to push forward the political settlement."
The envoy emphasized that at a time when there is "a serious divergence of views" concerning the draft resolution among all sides, the Council should continue to hold consultations, rather than simply push for a vote on the draft resolution, so as not to undermine the unity of the Council or obstruct the coordination and cooperation in dealing with problems such as Syrian crisis and other major issues.
The Chinese diplomat also reiterated China's position that all parties in Syria should respect human rights and international humanitarian law, and make every effort to prevent harming innocent civilians during the conflict.
"China is firmly opposed to all acts of violation of international humanitarian law or serious violations of human rights committed by all parties to the conflict in Syria," he said.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/861845.shtml
23/5/14
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China on Friday said a UN draft resolution on Syria would complicate the situation and urged the international community to insist on a political settlement....
ReplyDeleteForeign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks while commenting on China's veto on Thursday of a draft resolution by France to refer the Syrian civil war, currently in its fourth year, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for review of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Referring the Syrian issue to the ICC will complicate the situation and make it more difficult to solve. That will afflict the Syrian people and countries in the region," Hong said.
The draft resolution, proposed by France, received 13 votes in favor and two against. The other veto was from Russia.
Hong said China is always reserved when the UN Security Council refers a country's domestic situation to the ICC.
The international community should insist on a political settlement to the Syrian issue, promote cease fire and end to violence, ease the humanitarian situation, and promote parties in Syria to find a middle way that accords with Syria's situation and gives consideration to the interests of all sides through the Geneva negotiation process, the spokesman said.
He added that China attaches great importance to all sides, especially reasonable concerns by countries in the region on the Syrian issue, and China is ready to work with all sides to make positive efforts for a proper settlement of the issue.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/861874.shtml
23/5/14