China, Russia block referral of Syria to court

UNIT D NATI NS eheadings, torture, aerial bombardments of schools and hospitals the war in Syria, raging for more than three years with no sign of relief, represents the very e cesses of war that the International riminal ourt was designed to take on.

Nevertheless, the court will not take on war crimes in Syria, not anytime soon anyway. hina and ussia voted Thursday against a Security ouncil resolution that would have empowered the world tribunal to go after perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Syria.

efore the vote, the United Nations deputy secretarygeneral, an liasson, issued a poignant rebuke. “If members of the council continue to be unable to agree on a measure that could provide some accountability for the ongoing crimes,” he said, “the credibility of this body and the entire organization will continue to suffer.”

Now those who demand accountability for war criminals in Syria will have to prepare other options, potentially including ones outside the International riminal ourt. ne option could be setting up a special tribunal, which US officials have privately suggested in the past.

Another could involve plucking war-crime suspects from Syria when they travel abroad to go shopping or attend a child s college graduation, for instance to be tried under universal jurisdiction laws. A third could involve a eneral Assembly resolution under a provision called Uniting for eace, which can be invoked when the Security ouncil is believed to have failed to do its job in maintaining peace and security.