Following a failed United Nations Security Council resolution to bring an end to the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, Russia and China have proposed a radical new solution to bring decisive action against the Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad- to send him to the naughty corner to think about what he has done.
The announcement comes after both nations vetoed the US-led resolution to condemn and oust the Syrian leader on Sunday. In the wake of international anger at their inaction, both nations have instead called for Al-Assad to be extradited to the United Nations General Assembly, where he will be stripped off his command over government forces and made to sit in a corner of the Assembly room until either recess or lunchtime. The announcement also makes clear that if the violence against civilians escalates within the city of Homs, then Al-Assad may be forced to remain in the internationally-shunned corner all through lunch time as well.
A joint statement released to the media today continued: “Despite what everyone else is saying, we are not abandoning the Syrian people nor are we letting the bloodshed continue. In fact, we believe that if the Syrian people have been good enough to hold out for 11 months against government crackdowns and massacres, then surely they can hold out for just a little longer while Al-Assad has withdrawal symptoms from being separated from his military chain of command.”
Response from the international community has been mixed, with some nations believing that the naughty corner undermines the very fabric of international relations, while others are calling for similar measures to be implemented, such as letters sent home from the UN Security Council. Elsewhere, the resolution received some support, albeit with minor modifications. The United States has surprisingly considered the resolution, so long as the naughty corner is relocated to Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.
There have been rumours within the international community that the real reason for Russia and China blocking the earlier resolution is because they have been in fact supplying weapons and arms to government forces to be used against unarmed locals in Syria. When questioned about this, a Russian spokesperson replied: “We have been assured by the Syrian government that it is quite impossible for imported weapons to have been used against civilians, simply because there are no “civilians” in Syria anymore... just “rebel non-combatants.” Syria now has the lowest number of civilian deaths than any other country in the world!”
