Russia, China veto UN bid to refer Syria to international court

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and China vetoed on Thursday a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country's three-year civil war. This was the fourth time Russia - a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government - and China have blocked U.N. Security Council action on Syria during the three-year civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said the victims of the conflict "deserve to have history record those who stood with them and those who were willing to raise their hands to deny them a chance at justice." "Our grandchildren will ask us years from now how we could have failed to bring justice to people living in hell on earth," Power told the council after the vote. There were more than 60 co-sponsors of the French-drafted resolution, diplomats said.

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