Resolution avseende Syrien

Delar av IPU-delegationen på bild efter besök i Supreme Court i Uganda. Till höger om mig står Sveriges ambassadör i Uganda, Urban Andersson, och till vänster Chief Justice of Uganda, Benjamin J. Odoki.

Efter två veckor i Uganda och bortovaro från bloggandet under samma tid "är jag nu åter" efter att Interparlamentariska Unionens (IPU:s) 126:e konferens precis har avslutats i Ugandas huvudstad, Kampala. Under sista dagens governing council fattades det beslut om ett antal olika resolutioner. En av dessa resolutioner rörde ett så kallat emergency item. Det vill säga en särskilt angelägen fråga i något globalt viktigt ämne. Dagens emergency item gällde Syrien.

I ett pressmeddelande på riksdagens hemsida nämns detta och lite annat beträffande IPU-konferensen. I mitt uskott var jag anmäld som andre talare från Sverige, men eftersom talarordningen ändrades tre gånger var jag tvungen att avstå från talet på grund av andra åtaganden. Utskottets ämne var - ungefär - vilka lärdomar som kunde dras från den arabiska våren. Mitt anförande tog sikte på situationen i Syrien och hade säkert föranlett ett antal reaktioner. Så här lyder det:

"Chairman and colleague parliamentarian friends

The Arab spring shows people's need for freedom, autonomy and justice. In a world where transparency has increased dramatically by access to the Internet, cell phones and other tools such as social media, it is much easier for people to become aware of how other people live around the world and how different political systems are functioning. It is now much more visible for both those affected and people in other countries, to see and understand when unfair treatment and oppression occurs.

I believe that a direct consequence of the new open digital society worldwide, is that undemocratic governments act by imposing a stronger and harsher repression of people's freedom - these governments are eager not to give away any of their power which in turn means that citizens can not get their freedom. The conditions people are living in, in some states of today, is truly unacceptable. It is hard to find words strong enough to put words on situations when states exercise aggression, cruelty and injustice against its own people, in order to maintain its own power. Indiscriminate killing is a close example of such unnecessary aggression – and I think in this regard, closest to the situation is Syria.

The answer to people's desire for freedom can never be violence, bullets, and indiscriminate killing; it must be reforms and democracy. Here, the IPU has an important role by providing knowledge and expertise on how to move forward with peaceful means, and how genuine parliamentary democracy can and should work.

Respect for international agencies is also very important. Criticism about the decision-making in the UN Security Council has increased because the veto system appears to be inadequate in situations when action is needed, and one state can ultimately block the Council's decision. The veto system is questionable and the question is whether a system of qualified majority voting instead would be a better solution, not least in order to maintain compliance with the Security Council and its decision making.

International law has developed since the gas-attack against civilians in Halabja and now the question has been raised whether the limit is reached when it comes to Syria, and the conditions for a humanitarian intervention are fulfilled?

I will now refer to the actual resolution for this committee that we are going to decide in this assembly. In my opinion the resolution will be a good statement describing lessons learned from the Arab spring.

I want to thank my colleagues in advance for – as I hope – a general consensus on these crucial issues and the strong commitment that exist in these matters."

Resolutionen mot Syrien antogs, men föranledde reservationer från väntat håll, Syrien, Kuba, Nordkorea och Venezuela och kanske lite mer oväntat från Chile och Sydafrika.

Här finns en länk till riksdagens hemsida där det finns en inledande text som leder vidare till ett pressmeddelande som finns här.