UN chief: Syria situation an international failure

The international community’s inability to prevent the “atrocities” committed in Syria is a source of shame for the UN and displays a colossal failure on its part, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting on preventing genocide, Ban said that the world power’s “collective failure to prevent atrocity crimes in Syria of the past two-and-a-half years will remain a heavy burden on the standing of the United Nations and its member states.”

Ban went on to state that the UN Security Council must play “an effective role in promoting an end to the Syrian tragedy.”

The UN Secretary General added that although the international community had made a commitment to prevent occurrences of genocide, the situation in Syria indicated that world leaders had not lived up to their promise.

“As we see around us, atrocities continue to be committed,” he said. “Many observers regard the international community’s divisions and immobility as a failure of the responsibility to protect.”