Greens fear that NATO "mission creep" in Libya undermines R2P deterrence potential in Syria crisis.

OTTAWA - NATO's  "mission creep" under its United Nations Responsibility To Protect (R2P) mandate in Libya - which now apparently creeps to heavy continuous bombing of Tripoli to effect regime change - has not unexpectedly undermined UN Security Council  solidarity and thus the deterrence potential of R2P on the Syrian regime.

Human rights groups estimate that over 1,300 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have already been killed since the pro-democracy uprising in Syria began.

Russia and China have now both said they would not support an R2P-type intervention in Syria.  Russia and China had previously abstained – rather than blocked - a Security Council vote to take limited military action in Libya and are now upset that NATO is overstepping that original resolution.

"The intent of the R2P resolution around Libya was to protect civilians in imminent danger, and not escalate the conflict into a regime-change-by-bombing-into-submission exercise.  This creates a bad precedent that will undermine the appropriate application of R2P by the UN Security Council in other crisis situations," said Eric Walton, Green International Affairs Critic.

A debate regarding the Libya mission extension is coming up this week in the Canadian House of Commons.

Regarding the crisis in Syria, the Green Party of Canada is calling for more robust sanctions to include an international trade and energy embargo and not just sanctions against specific individuals and Syrian security organizations.

"The Canadian government should immediately seek to mobilize international support for a trade and energy embargo against Syria unless lethal violence against protesters ends immediately.  Even if full co-operation on robust sanctions can not be immediately obtained, the world community needs to know which countries are prepared to continue trading and profiting from a regime that uses tanks and helicopter gunships against its own unarmed civilian protesters," said Green Leader Elizabeth May.

Syria's domestic energy supply now only provides for about two-thirds of its required energy needs.

Protests in Syria have been underway since March, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. President Bashar al-Assad has responded to the protests with lethal military force.  Sanctions have been placed on certain senior Syrian officials (including President Assad) by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

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Contact:
Kieran Green
Director of Communications
613-614-4916
Kieran.green@greenparty.ca