REUTERS

File photo of Israeli security forces standing in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, as protesters are seen on the Syrian side of the Israeli-Syrian border. Picture: Reuters/Nir Elias

It is shameful that Russia and China are blocking any meaningful efforts by the UN Security Council to pressure the Syrian government to stop the wholesale killing of its own people and allow a transition to democracy.

Russia is simply protecting its crude national interests, including arms supplies to President Bashar al-Assad’s government and maintaining its naval base. China is just defending the rights of dictators.

On February 4 these members of the Security Council vetoed a resolution which would have backed an Arab League plan for Assad to step down and allow a unity government to guide the country to real elections.

Last week the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which backed the Arab League plan, but it is non-binding and largely symbolic.

France is trying to persuade Russia to support a new Security Council resolution which would authorise humanitarian corridors to be opened to get food and medicine to Syrians besieged by the bloody fighting, especially in the city of Homs.

But Russia seems to suspect this could be a pre-lude to military intervention.

South Africa’s Navi Pillay, UN High Commis-sioner for Human Rights, said last week that crimes against humanity had probably been committed in Syria and urged the UN Security Council to refer it to the International Criminal Court.

Our government could play an important role in Syria. After vowing never to support any Security Council resolution on Syria because it felt Nato had abused last year’s resolution on Libya, South Africa did vote for the February 4 resolution. But this was in a sense an impotent vote as Russia and China vetoed the resolution anyway.

South Africa should now be using such influence as it has within the Brics bloc of emerging nations to persuade Russia and China to back the Arab League plan for a transition to democracy.

The slaughter cannot go on.