You Did It! Senate Takes Action on Syria 30NOV12

IT took a while, too long actually, but we finally have a victory in the US Senate thanks to Rep Jim Moran D VA and Sen John Cornyn R TX. Here is a report on the unanimous vote in the Senate barring the purchase of weapons from Rosoboronexport, the Russian weapons supplier to the murderous regime of assad in Syria. Thank you to all who participated in their calls to action to bring this about!

		Victory against Rosoboronexport Photo credit: (UPI) Dear supporter, Thanks to over 50,000 people like you, our voices were heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. Last night we won an important victory in the Senate — there was a unanimous vote on an amendment barring the Pentagon from purchasing any weapons from the Russian company arming the murderous Syrian regime, Rosoboronexport. Can you take a minute to thank our champions in the House and Senate Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) by sending a tweet? Share on Twitter Thanks @JohnCornyn for standing w/ the Syrian people by cutting US ties with Syrian weapons dealers @endgenocide pls RT Share on Twitter Thanks @Jim_Moran for standing w/ the Syrian people by cutting US ties with Syrian weapons dealers @endgenocide pls RT Our campaign — and this legislation targeting Rosoboronexport — will add critical economic pressure on Russia who is providing direct aid and assistance to Assad's murderous regime. Russia is one of the main reasons why there hasn't been stronger international action on Syria. Not only have they sold the Assad regime attack helicopters, they've blocked action at the UN, delivered planes with 200 tons of "bank notes" for Assad, and Russian made cluster bombs were used in a Thanksgiving day attack that killed 11 children who were gathered in a field where kids regularly play. We know the Syrian people are still at risk. Even as we are celebrating this victory, the Syrian regime has cut off internet access to the entire country. But with this legislation — and strong support from people like you — we've taken an important step forward and we will continue to seek opportunities for us to stand with the Syrian people. Thank you for all you do, Tom Andrews President United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"

Slideshow: Look what we've accomplished! from UNITED TO END GENOCIDE 9AUG12

AN update on the work and successes of United to End Genocide....

		Dear Supporter, Last fall, Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network merged to create United to End Genocide. One year later, we are the largest organization working to ending mass atrocities and genocide throughout the world, and with our amazing activists and supporters, we’ve already accomplished so much. Take a look at our slideshow highlighting our key accomplishments together last year. From Sudan to Syria, Burma to the Congo, we so appreciate your commitment to our movement to end and prevent genocide worldwide. We're really pleased about the work we accomplished together and for the work ahead of us and we thank you for standing by our side. If you’d like to learn more, you can download our annual report in its entirety here. Sincerely,   Tom Andrews President United to End Genocide Bama Athreya Executive Director United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!" http://action.savedarfur.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=8681.0&dlv_id=12101

Olympic Action Makes Mark 1AUG12

THE PR campaign agains weapons sales and shipments to Syria's bashar al-assad by United to End Genocide and other human rights groups is being felt at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and by Russia's arms dealer to bloody dictators vladimir lisin and the equally complicit rosoboronexport. See my earlier post on this action at DOW CHEMICAL, BOPHAL, INDIA AND THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS & PBS SYRIA VIDEO & Terror Games: Syria, Russia and the Olympics 26,27&28JUL12 ( http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/dow-chemical-bophal-india-and-2012.html )
This update from United to End Genocide....
By Bama Athreya
Last week, we asked our activists to call attention to Russian shipping magnate Vladimir Lisin’s prominent role in the Olympic Games. Lisin’s vessels were alleged to be shipping equipment for military helicopters to Syria, enabling mass atrocities by Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
We called off the action on the opening day of the Olympics after hearing directly from Lisin’s representatives with detailed information regarding the shipments. Thanks to all of you who took action. Vladimir Lisin took notice of your actions, and his representatives felt compelled to respond! We are continuing to dialogue with them and hope to share more information on this issue with our supporters soon.
We hope that you will join us as we continue our work to stem the flow of arms into Syria. Our effort includes targeting enablers like Russia’s state-owned weapons company, Rosoboronexport, which is responsible for selling billions of dollars in arms to the Syrian regime.
http://blog.endgenocide.org/blog/2012/08/01/olympic-action-makes-mark/

Syria: Farewell to Arms 16JUL12

AS the fighting rages across Syria and intensifies in Damascus Russia decides to end weapons sales to the government of bashar al-assad. Russia and the prc continue to block Chapter 7 resolutions in the UN Security Council, but this unilateral action by Russia, if true, could be the action that brings the fall of assad. From United to End Genocide.....

By Bama Athreya

Military helicopter similar to the ones reportedly being delivered to Syria by Russia.

The following originally appeared on the Connect U.S. Fund blog.
The Russians will sell no new weapons to Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria. This is a significant shift in Russia’s stance. The time is ripe to push even harder to end any provision of arms, by any government, to those forces in Syria committing human rights abuses.
By some estimates, over 17,000 people have died since the inception of violence in March 2011 – most innocent civilians, and a number of them children. Over the past sixteen months, the international community has attempted to find a path to implement its responsibility to protect civilian lives from the Assad government’s violent assaults. Governments have imposed harsh economic sanctions on Syria. The Arab League sent in a human rights observer mission. When that failed, the United Nations sent in a mission headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with the intention of monitoring a cease-fire and brokering peace. The cease-fire never occurred, sanctions were increased, a number of countries severed diplomatic relations, and a Friends of Syria group was established to coordinate an international response to the Syria crisis. Yet, large numbers of civilians continue to be killed – a few now by opposition fighters, but in far greater numbers at the hands of Assad’s forces.
Since the violence began sixteen months ago, United to End Genocide has advocated for the use of economic and diplomatic pressure on Syria. By restricting Assad’s access to international capital through the sanctioning of lucrative sectors such as oil and gas, we hoped to see both restrained capacity of the regime to arm and pay its soldiers, and the reduction of support for Assad from Syria’s business community. Over the past several months, we have also pushed for an end to Russian arms sales – in particular, targeting Russia’s state-owned weapons dealer Rosoboronexport.  We have no illusions about the company’s morality, but guess that—between Assad’s diminished ability to pay lucrative contracts, and the threat of loss of sales elsewhere— pressure on the Russians may be working given the latest announcement.
Despite this victory, a protracted civil war in Syria now seems inevitable. This will undoubtedly lead to the loss of many more civilian lives and risks escalating delicate regional tensions even further. The ‘military option’ has been discussed with proposals for safe zones, no-kill zones and the direct arming of the Syrian opposition. At the other end of the spectrum, some human rights groups have called for a total arms embargo – both to stop the flow of weapons to the Assad regime, and to any opposition forces. Would any of these options really serve the need for civilian protection in the cities of Syria, where it is most needed?
In the midst of this, Annan has been clearly calling for a stronger UN mandate for the international mission. The current mandate will expire on July 20, and at this point it must be both renewed and strengthened. While Russia and China vetoed an earlier UN Security Council measure, perhaps Russia’s recent change of heart on new weapons sales suggests that stronger action is now possible.
In response to Annan’s call for ‘strong consequences’ for Syria’s intransigence, some Security Council members want to authorize a measure under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. This would enable, among other possible actions, an arms embargo on Syria. Now that the Russians have conceded the issues with selling weapons to Syria, can they be convinced to endorse a condition that military assistance will not be provided to forces known to have committed human rights violations (something similar to the Leahy provisions mandated in U.S. law)?  Here, credible monitoring will be key, and could be the justification to insist that human rights monitors—in the form of an expanded, and protected, Annan mission—be given enough access and resources to determine which forces should be sequestered.
The world also needs to convince the opposition’s armed combatants that it will not serve their cause to target civilians. Some governments are now providing military and non-military support to the armed opposition. Regardless of whether this is something that should be encouraged or discouraged, it is happening.  At a minimum, the necessity then becomes working to ensure that groups receiving arms do not turn around and target civilians. As a measure to ensure this, what if the provision of supplies to armed opposition groups was conditioned upon those groups adopting clear pledges to adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law, and to allow international human rights monitors to work in close proximity to their operations to monitor that this pledge was being honored?
While it may be too late to succeed in bringing peace in the short term, the Annan mission can succeed in preventing further escalation and reducing the harm to civilians if it is backed by strong commitments and consequences for violations by the UN Security Council. The new mission should include an arms embargo, in particular applied to all forces known to have committed human rights violations, international monitors to verify that combatants adhere to the Geneva Conventions and other applicable international human rights and humanitarian laws, and consequences for those who do commit violations. This may not avert civil war, but perhaps this approach can rein in the human costs of conflict.
http://blog.endgenocide.org/blog/2012/07/16/syria-farewell-to-arms/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syria-farewell-to-arms

President Obama: Stop U.S. Support for Syrian Weapons 14JUN12

SEC of State Clinton is right to condemn continuing arms sales by Russia to Syria, and HYPOCRITICAL because the U.S. military has a contract for $1 billion with the same Russian arms dealer, rosoboronexport. The campaign to force the American government to cancel this contract has been going on for months, and it will continue until the Pentagon cuts all ties with rosoboronexport. We must keep up the pressure, not only on the bloody assad regime, but on the American government too. Please click the link and sign the petition demanding the pentagon cancel it's contract and all business with rosobornexport now.

		Obama — Stop U.S. support for Syrian weapons Tell President Obama to stand up for the people of Syria today Killing and violence in Syria has reached horrific levels. The recent massacres in Houla and Qubair underscore the ruthlessness of Syrian President al-Assad. Over 10,000 men, women and children have perished in the last year and more than 1 million Syrians are now in need of humanitarian assistance. In a major announcement this week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned Russia, and its state-owned weapons company for shipping attack helicopters to Syria and enabling President Bashir al-Assad's regime to carry out brutal attacks on civilians. But the United States has a dirty little secret — the U.S. military has a $1 billion dollar contract with the same Russian company, Rosoboronexport. Tell President Obama that the United States needs to cease all contracts with Rosoboronexport. We must act now. Next week, President Obama will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Mexico. Before he condemns Russia for selling arms to Syria, he needs to get our own house in order. In March, we sounded the alarm that the U.S government signed a contract for nearly $1 billion in business with Rosoboronexport. In response, supporters like you sent more than 25,000 emails to Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta. Congress listened, held hearings and introduced legislation to bring this deplorable practice to an end. Now it's time to demand action from President Obama. And he must act now. The UN just issued a report finding that Assad's brutal regime and allied militia have killed, maimed, tortured and detained children as young as 9 years old. It is unconscionable that the United States would play any role in this mindless slaughter of innocents. Tell President Obama that we can't condemn the killing of civilians in Syria while at the same time the U.S. is purchasing weapons from Syria's main arms supplier, Rosoboronexport. Thank you for taking action. Together we will stand up for those suffering from violence and mass atrocities in Syria. Sincerely, Tom Andrews President United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"