The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the UN have called on Asma Al-Assad, wife of the Syrian President Bashar Assad, to end the Syrian regime’s violence against its own people.

Huberta von Voss-Wittig and Sheila Lyall Grant have addressed this video message directly (pointedly, relentlessly) to Asma Al-Assad. They call on her to stop pretending that she has no choice but to stand idly by, and to use her power – her proximity to the people directly responsible for the bloodshed – to help end it. It’s a fascinating instance of two women who are also in direct proximity to diplomatic power calling on another woman to exercise that particular privilege. Let’s hope to hell it works.

**Trigger warning ...