Al Arabiya , 01 June 2012 – The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Syria on Friday for the massacre in al-Houla and called for a U.N. investigation to identify the perpetrators and gather evidence for possible criminal prosecution, as Washington expressed “serious concerns” over Russia’s supply of arms to the Syrian regime.

The 47-member forum, which held an emergency session in Geneva, adopted a resolution by a vote of 41 states in favor with 3 against — including China and Russia — two abstentions and one delegation absent for the vote, according to Reuters.
The resolution was put forward by Qatar, Turkey and the United States amid international outrage at the killing of 108 people, nearly half of them children, in al-Houla a week ago.

But Syria’s delegation accused “terrorists” of carrying out the killings — its term for anti-government rebels — and rejected the text as politically motivated interference. It said its own investigation was under way.

“The perpetrators will be brought to the courts and will not go unpunished,” Syrian diplomat Tamim Madani told the meeting before the vote. “Voting for this resolution is tantamount to killing the victims again.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Syrian forces and pro-government militiamen accused of committing the slaughter could face prosecution for crimes against humanity, in a speech read out on her behalf.

Pillay called again for the Security Council to refer Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

But Russia and China, which dismissed the text as “unbalanced,” said that U.N. observers were already probing the massacre and there was no need for duplication.

“Russia is seriously concerned at attempts by some countries before hearing results of the (U.N. observers’) mission to already determine who the guilty are and thereby exercise pressure on the Security Council and use this tragedy only in unilateral interest to undermine the Annan peace plan,” Russia’s ambassador Alexei Borodavkin told the meeting.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reuters)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, charged Friday that Russia has continued to supply arms to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, raising “serious concerns” in the United States.

“We know there has been a very consistent arms trade, even during the past year, coming from Russia to Syria. We also believe the continuous supply of arms from Russia has strengthened the Assad regime,” she said at a news conference in Oslo, according to AFP.

“The fact that Russia has continued to sustain this trade in the face of efforts by the international community to impose sanctions … has raised serious concerns on our part,” she said.

Clinton’s remarks followed assertions by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Friday that Russia takes no side in the fighting in Syria and was not supplying “the weapons that could be used in a civil conflict.”

Clinton said Russia’s stance on the conflict in Syria was seen as supporting the government of Assad.

“I repeat the appeal that I have made to Russia because their position of claiming not to take a position is certainly viewed in the Security Council, in Damascus and elsewhere, as a position supporting the continuity of the Assad regime,” Clinton said.

“And if Russia is prepared, as President Putin’s remarks seem to suggest, to work with the international community to come together to plan a political transition, we will certainly be ready to cooperate,” she added.