In an official resolution on Thursday, which received the backing of 137 other countries, the United Nations General Assembly condemned “widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities." The UN General Assembly also declared its backing for a plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.
A violent crackdown against anti-government protesters in Syria has continued for almost a year, as part of a wave of civil unrest against governments in the Arab World and parts of North Africa. Syrian officials have insisted the country has been attacked by ‘terrorists’, but this has not stopped images of dead and dying civilians, including women and children, being sent around the world.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on Thursday called on the Syrian government to stop the bloodshed. He told reporters that “the longer we debate, the more people will die.”
The vote for the resolution, which is not legally binding, was 137 to 12 with 17 abstentions. The 12 countries that voted against the resolution were Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
This makes Zimbabwe the only African country to vote against the UN resolution. SW Radio Africa
Post published in: News