THE Foreign Affairs Minister, Kevin Rudd, has requested the United Nations refer the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to the International Criminal Court for the brutality being inflicted on his citizens.
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Mr Rudd has also signalled that the government no longer recognised the Syrian regime as legitimate.
His announcement came during an address to the National Press Club yesterday and joined growing condemnation of the Damascus regime from other nations, including the US.
Mr Rudd, who was also a leading advocate for the imposition of a no-fly zone above Libya, said he had broadened the financial and travel sanctions Australia had applied to Dr Assad and senior members of his regime. He said it was time for strong, co-ordinated international action.
''I believe it is high time the Security Council now consider a formal referral of President Assad to the International Criminal Court,'' Mr Rudd said.
The Foreign Minister said he had written to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and the president of the Security Council requesting the action.
He was particularly angered by images of the mutilated body of a 13-year-old boy who reportedly had been tortured then murdered as part of the crackdown by the regime, which has killed about 1100 civilians and led to 10,000 arrests.
''When you see such large-scale directed action by a head of government against his own civilian population, the deepest questions arise in the minds of the people of the world as to whether any claim of legitimacy remains,'' Mr Rudd said of the Assad regime.
The opposition spokeswoman on foreign affairs, Julie Bishop, called for those behind the murder of the boy and other acts of violence to be brought to justice.
Mr Rudd backed calls by developing nations for the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund to come from somewhere other than Europe.
