About Syria: Argentina says "we will never endorse a military intervention"

Story at glance - The Argentinian Foreign Ministry called for "not adding up new horrors to those who we already suffer" and questioned the power of veto in the Security Council. Timerman recommended sending humanitarian assistance to Syria through the UN.

Thursday August 29, 2013- Argentina, which this month holds the UN's Security Council's provisional presidency, finally fixed its position on civil war in Syria, with a strong rejection to the possible intervention by certain powers, like the U.S. and Britain.

Besides, asked again to abolish the veto power in the UN and outlined three proposals : "the arms embargo, humanitarian intervention led by the Secretary General, an emergency meeting of the General Assembly or the action in the field of conflict by the foreign ministers memebers of the Security Council".

"What Argentina will never propose or endorse, is a foreign military intervention. The Argentine government and people will not be complicit in further deaths," said the Argentinian Foreign Office at the end of the long text .

The pronunciation of the staff led by Héctor Timerman comes after a week of fierce debate within the international community since on 21 August, the Syrian opposition claimed that the regime of Bashar al- Assad used chemical weapons against civil society and killed to 1400 people . The government, however, blamed the rebels, while a team of UN inspectors is in place to confirm the use of lethal gas .

As anticipated by diplomats, the Foreign Ministry "strongly supports the investigation launched by the Secretary General and expects to have conclusive, transparent, objective and impartial  results soon" .

In this regard , the ministry said that "the use of lethal chemical weapons in all its forms is a war crime and a crime against humanity " and that those who have used "should be judged and punished by the courts, specifically by the International Criminal Court (ICC)" .

After a historical review on the traditional "defense of the principle of not allowing foreign military intervention" by Argentina and Latin America , the statement forcefully rejected the growing likelihood that the United States and its NATO partners lead military action the Arab country.

"In line with the statement by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the responsibility to protect civilians to justify unilateral military intervention or through circumstantial alliances can give a rise to abuse of the values ​​of peace and security and in the end attacking precisely the values ​​they claim to defend," says the statement." "We should not add new horrors to the horrors and suffering that the world already suffer.", reaffirms .

"The foreign military intervention in the form of automatic response to the use of chemical weapons without even waiting for the United Nations to determine if the weapons were really used and in that case who did it, implies a loss of the multilateral system and disregard its legal system ," said the Foreign Ministry.

"We reiterate the concept that the United Nations will not be effective as the powerful believe that only the weak must fulfill their resolutions," continued , to re- question the asymmetry in the Security Council of the UN, where five powers (the United States , Britain, France, Russia and China) have veto power . The Argentina chairs UN's Security Council's provisional presidency until tomorrow.

PROPOSALS

Among the proposals recommended by the Foreign Ministry is "the possibility of a non-military humanitarian intervention by UN mandate." In this regard, the view that if this option is not accepted by any of the permanent members of the Council, referring to Russia and China, Syria's allies, "would once again reflected a situation described by the President of the Argentina Republic (Cristina Kirchner) a few weeks ago in the Security Council by saying that "when in conflict management appears veto, the solution becomes much more difficult and at times impossible. '"

For that reason Argentina advised that the matter may be taken in an emergency meeting of the General Assembly and, after the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon must set the authorship of the use of chemical weapons, heading an humanitarian intervention.

"No doubt, reach this instance would bare the Security Council as a contaminated entity, by the play of interests of a small group of countries, exercising the" privilege "of the veto, becoming this body not only ineffective but irrelevant for the world peace", again questioned.

The ministry raised as necessary the arms embargo to Syria. "It is also important to recognize that the provision of arms to the warring parties away from defining the war, contributed to multiply the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people," Argentina said.

Finally, the last option proposed was: "that the 15 foreign ministers representing the member countries of the Security Council will convene in Syria right now to demand the cessation of violence and starting a dialogue between the conflicting parties."