UNITED NATIONS (AP) A draft U.N. resolution initiated by Saudi Arabia would strongly condemn "widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights" by the Syrian government and "any" abuses by anti-government armed groups.
Saudi Arabia, which backs rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad, has strongly criticized the Security Council's failure to resolve Syria's civil war and other conflicts, citing this as one reason for rejecting a seat on the U.N.'s most powerful body earlier this month.
U.N. diplomats said the draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, is expected to be submitted to the human rights committee of the less powerful but much larger General Assembly by Friday's deadline. The committee is expected to discuss it next week and vote on it in late November. If approved, it is virtually certain to be adopted by the 193-member General Assembly in December.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do reflect world opinion and carry moral and political weight.
The draft resolution is highly critical of the Assad government, expressing "outrage" at the continuing escalation of violence that has killed more than 100,000 people in 2 1/2 years of fighting and "alarm" at the regime's failure to protect its people.