Pressure had been building for General Assembly action on Syria as the carnage in Aleppo has escalated and Secuity Council action has been blocked by Russia—the very power carrying out the carnage. The General Assembly website informs us that Venezuela spoke against the resolution, which is disappointing but predictable. While the actual record of the vote does not appear to be online, we are given to understand that Venezuela was joined in its "no" vote by Bolivia and Nicaragua. These Latin American "anti-imperialist" governments have voted on the wrong side on Syria resolutions before, and Bolivia's Evo Morales has weighed in publicly for the genocidal Bashar Assad. But the case of Nicaragua is particularly depressing. This is the same country (and under the same president, Daniel Ortega) that in 1986 won a World Court ruling against the US for crimes that were horrific enough but pale beside those now being committed by Assad.

The Assad regime preceded its assault on Aleppo with air-dropped leaflets warning the residents to flee or be "annihilated." But fleeing to regime-cotrnolled territory is also likely to mean annihilation, as Assad's forces have been repeatedly accused of "sectarian cleansing," with Sunnis from taken areas assumed to be rebel sympathizers and facing reprisals. Al Jazeera now reports that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing his office has received "worrying allegations that hundreds of men have gone missing after crossing into government-controlled areas" of Aleppo. "Given the terrible record of arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances, we are of course deeply concerned."

Colville said family members have reported losing contact with the men, who are between the ages of 30 and 50, after they fled opposition-held areas of Aleppo about a week ago.