Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

At UN on Syria, 7 Days Out, New Draft Here, Arria Formula on Thursday

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, March 20 -- Tuesday night at the UN, Security Council Ambassadors told Inner City Press about their discussion that afternoon on Syria. "The reporting in seven days is out," one Permanent Representative said proudly, quickly confirmed by two others. "But Kofi's six point plan remains in."

Another Permanent Representative emphasized the switch from "further measures" down to "further steps."

Later Inner City Press obtained a copy of the revised Presidential Statement, and is putting it online below, where it can be compared with the original version which Inner City Press put online here.

Meanwhile it emerged that Germany has scheduled an "Arria formula" meeting of the Council on Thursday morning, with the head of the UN International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro. "We should schedule our own Arria formula meeting," a less pro Western Permanent Representative told Inner City Press.

For the record, Syria's Perm Rep Bashar Ja'afari told Inner City Press that the sides "are still far apart," and predicted that the French "will be surprised when silence is broken," before 9 am on Wednesday.

The locus of all this back and forth was the celebration of Nowruz in the General Assembly Tuesday night. Attendees, just from among the Council's Permanent Five, included Vitaly Churkin of Russia, Deputy Wang of China, Deputy DiCarlo of the USA, and Deputy Briens of France, who told Inner City Press he had not heard about the Arria formula meeting about Syria.

Churkin told Inner City Press that he had been ready to agree earlier on Tuesday. Wittig of Germany told other reporters that it was Russia that asked to check with Moscow. We'll see.

  DPR DiCarlo, notably pleasant, attended the Nowruz, as Ambassador Susan Rice was said to be in Washington after telling the House of Representative that Ban Ki-moon is a great partner in reform (though he has without comment an alleged war criminal as an adviser) and that the UN helped in Haiti, with no mention of cholera or rape. Apparently not Rice by Mike Hammer will brief select UN scribes -- not this one -- on Wednesday at 9:30 am, then the "foreign" press at 4 pm.

The re-draft under silence procedure:

PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT ON THE JOINT SPECIAL ENVOY on Syria 

           The Security Council recalls its Presidential Statement of 3 August 2011 and its Press Statement of 1 March 2012.

The Security Council expresses its gravest concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria which has resulted in a serious human rights crisis and a deplorable humanitarian situation. The Security Council expresses its profound regret at the death of many thousands of people in Syria.

The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

The Security Council welcomes the appointment of Joint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, following the General Assembly resolution A/RES/66/253 of 16 February 2012 and relevant resolutions of the League of Arab States.

The Security Council expresses its full support for the efforts of the Envoy to bring an immediate end to all violence and human rights violations, secure humanitarian access, and facilitate a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.

To this aim, the Security Council fully supports the initial six-point proposal submitted to the Syrian authorities, as outlined by the Envoy to the Security Council on 16 March 2012, to:

1) commit to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people, and, to this end, commit to appoint an empowered interlocutor when invited to do so by the Envoy;

2) commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians and stabilize the country. To this end, the Syrian government shall immediately cease troop movements towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centres, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres. As these actions are being taken on the ground, the Syrian government shall work with the Envoy to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism, and similar commitments shall be sought by the Envoy from the opposition and all relevant elements to stop the fighting and work with him to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechanism;

3) ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept and implement a daily two hour humanitarian pause and to coordinate exact time and modalities of the daily pause through an efficient mechanism, including at local level.

4) intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons are being detained, immediately begin organising access to such locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to all written requests for information, access or release regarding such persons;

5) ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and a non-discriminatory visa policy for them;

6) respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed.

The Security Council calls upon the Syrian government and opposition to work in good faith with the Envoy towards a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis and to implement fully and immediately his initial six-point proposal.

The Security Council requests the Envoy to update the Council regularly and in a timely manner on the progress of his mission. In the light of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps as appropriate.