BORIS JOHNSON WANTS PROTEST AT THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY TO END HORROR IN SYRIA
BORIS Johnson yesterday called for demonstrations outside Russian embassies to underline disgust at Moscow’s warplanes bombing innocent civilians in Syria.
The Foreign Secretary said he would “certainly like to see” such protests and criticised anti-war groups for an apparent lack of reaction.
Mr Johnson also said Russia risked becoming a “pariah state” and signalled he wants backers of Syria’s President Assad tried for war crimes.
But he ruled out policing a no-fly zone for fear it might mean confronting and shooting down Russian aircraft.
He spoke out as some Labour MPs indicated frustration that Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was not prepared to condemn Russian aggression more directly – with one suggesting millions of people should picket embassies.
Mr Johnson told a Commons debate the UK and its allies were trying to keep Syria high on the global agenda “in a world where, I’m afraid, the wells of outrage are growing exhausted”.
Citing the apparent silence of some left-wingers who routinely protest against British military operations, he added: “There is no commensurate horror, it seems, among some of those antiwar protest groups. I would certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian embassy. Where is the Stop The War Coalition?”
Earlier Labour MP Ann Clwyd, a former human rights special envoy in Iraq, said people who cared about the plight of Syrian civilians should protest every day outside Russia’s embassies worldwide until it stopped its “deplorable” attacks.
She said: “Two million, three million, four million people. It can be done.
“That should carry on right until the bombing stops and all the relevant players are forced to get around the table to end this horrible war.”
Mr Johnson said all the evidence pointed to it being Russia’s air force which bombed a UN aid convoy near Aleppo last month.
He called for incidents like that and the bombing of hospitals to be fully investigated with a view to war crime prosecutions.
He said: “We think there could be an advantage in International Criminal Court procedures. Those who are in my view culpable of these crimes should realise that the mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind small.”
He warned: “If Russia continues on its current path then I believe that great country is in danger of becoming a pariah nation.”
Mr Johnson said he had “every sympathy” with calls for no-fly zones to halt the destruction of Aleppo.
But he cautioned: “We need to think very carefully about the consequences.”
The Foreign Secretary also said that Europe’s resolve to impose sanctions on Russia could crumble easily because many countries depended on its gas.
Labour MP John Woodcock said anyone who did not consider the Russians guilty of “grotesque” war crimes should be ashamed.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said that “despite difficulties and despite anger” Britain must work with Russia to restore the broken ceasefire and reopen aid channels.
Mr Johnson’s comments threatened to stir a new diplomatic row with Moscow.
A posting on the Russian embassy Twitter feed said: “Very unusual call from the Foreign Secretary to hold demonstrations in front of the Russian embassy. New form of British diplomacy?”
BORIS JOHNSON proved his mettle as Foreign Secretary with a powerful speech in the Commons yesterday in which he called on the British people to mount protests outside the Russian embassy against Putin’s actions in Syria.
Every indication suggests that in helping to prop up dictator Bashar Al Assad the Russian military has committed serious war crimes against innocent civilians. In eastern Aleppo – where moderate rebels have been fighting an unholy alliance of Russian forces, Assad loyalists and Iranian militias – every single hospital is believed to have been bombed.
It is easy when confronted with such a desperate, complex and seemingly intractable situation to assume that there is nothing that can be done. While this reaction is understandable we cannot look the other way. Britain is one of the world’s major powers. The people in Aleppo living under siege, cut off from aid and attacked daily look to us for help and leadership.
Mr Johnson is right that it is up to him and his colleagues “in the Government to show a lead” but if popular protests in this country can help to shame Putin and highlight his crimes then we owe it to the beleaguered people of Aleppo to try.