As the international community ponders on the goings-on in Syria, it has grown accustomed to the constant negative news in the media about the slaughter of innocent civilians and others in Syrian territory.

The repetitiveness of this negative news can be dangerous, as it leads to a sense of ordinariness and eventually also to a sense of inertia, where more of the same news arouses no concern anymore.

The murders going on in Syria are not only part of total ground warfare, but murders that go beyond all acceptable limits and rules of the game of war. They form part of the guerrilla warfare movement that does not accept the long established international rules of human rights, which know no derogation, especially in times of war.

The fight for survival now overcomes the players in this tragedy and there is not even the faintest hope of any peaceful solution. The daily victims will lead to a near impossible future reconciliation of the factions, as wounds like these take forever to heal. 

This begs the question on the responsibility or otherwise of the international community – where is it in practice and when it is really needed? We have had many statements uttered and positions taken in the interests of civil society by various countries; however, we have had little action on an international level, barring international peace missions.

The British government has taken the first bold step in this regard by recognising the new opposition coalition as the rightful and legitimate government of the people of Syria – a strong international signal that the time to act should be postponed no further – Malta and its new Foreign Minister, Francis Zammit Dimech, should follow suit. In fact, I strongly believe this should be one of his first political statements on taking office.

The international political community has sat on the fence for far too long now. It has clearly adopted the stance and reaction resorted to in similar recent international abuses of fundamental human rights. The intervention in Iraq, twice running, the support offered to the Arab spring uprising and the military assistance provided in the Libyan revolution, when compared to its present stand on Syria, can only be described as lukewarm at best. In the meantime, however, innocent human beings are being killed and families destroyed for life – when will we stop it?

Only this week, we witnessed blasts in the form of car bombings, clearly non-military, targeting civilians in the heart of the Syrian capital. Only harm and distress, terror and tension, could be the purpose of such murders.

This delay in action on the international front is also leading to the heightened risk of a religious and sectarian divide. This would drag the international community not only further down, but into light years of turmoil and instability. Can we permit this as subscribers to the concepts of fundamental human rights and their protection?

There lies another perspective to this possible inertia to intervene. This is the question of whom to support and whether the faction or factions one chooses to support will lead to a stable and democratic recovery in Syria.

The opposition in Syria was not clearly identifiable and resembled pockets of resistance mushrooming all over the country, albeit united by one common goal – the overturning of the Assad regime. However, the various and differing motivations and backgrounds of such actions could have fuelled the politically cautious approach taken by the leading political players.

There is no doubt that democratic political alliance can and should only back a stable coalition observing the rule of law and until this becomes possible, caution is to be expected. Today, however, many months after the uprising commenced, and continues to endure with resilience a regime that will not admit defeat, the reality is different.

The international community should apply as much as is politically and humanly possible pressure to bring the situation in Syria under control. The loss of human life needs to end immediately. There are no winners in this scenario; society clearly loses. We have an obligation to intervene to help and save life in Syria – are we doing all within our power and responsibility?