Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
By Hui Min Neo – GENEVA
ADO-World.org
23-August-2011
The UN Human Rights Council called on the Syrian regime on Monday to halt its brutal crackdown on anti-government protests which has already left 2,200 people dead.
Opening the emergency session, UN rights chief Navi Pillay told the council: "The gravity of on-going violations and the brutal attacks against the peaceful protesters in that country demand your continued attention."
"As of today, over 2,200 people have been killed since mass protests began in mid-March, with more than 350 people reportedly killed across Syria since the beginning of Ramadan," added Pillay. The UN had previously estimated a death toll of 2,000.
The emergency session comes after UN investigators concluded that widespread and systematic rights violations have been committed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime since peaceful demonstrations began in mid-March.
While blocked from accessing the country, the UN mission found corroborating accounts of violations such as a "shoot-to-kill" policy, summary executions and even torture of children.
Called by 24 members of the council, including Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the meeting which goes on until Tuesday will decide whether to adopt a draft resolution that "deplores the continued indiscriminate attacks on its population" and seeks an immediate stop to "all acts of violence".
The resolution also highlights the need to "urgently dispatch an independent international commission of inquiry… to investigate violations of international human rights law in Syria since July 2011".
Investigators would be asked "to establish the facts and circumstances which may amount to such violations and where possible, to identify those responsible, with a view of ensuring that perpetrators of violations are held accountable".
US ambassador Eileen Donahoe called on the council to "take firmer actions to halt the ongoing crackdown against the Syrian people".
"It is clear that President Assad believes that he can silence the voices of his people by resorting to the repressive tactics of the past. But he is wrong. It is time for the Syrian people to determine their own destiny, and we will continue to stand firmly on their side," she stressed.
But the allegations were angrily rejected by Syria’s ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, who described them as "mere lies".
"Syria has been subjected to and continues to be subjected to an unprecedented misleading campaign carried by a number of countries in order to weaken Syria and to change its political position," said the diplomat.
He also slammed the draft resolution, saying that "the language used is … hateful".
"The resolution will only cause the crisis to lengthen and will only cause more instability. On this basis, we call on the council not to support the draft resolution, to maintain peace and security in Syria," said the ambassador.
Monday’s meeting marks the second of its kind on Syria.
A previous session in April ordered a mission to investigate claims of violations but Assad’s regime has so far defied calls to allow investigators in.
Hamoui said the UN investigators will be allowed in only after the "independent Syrian judicial commission has completed its work".
On Sunday, Assad scoffed at calls for his ouster, rejecting them as "worthless".
Source: Middle East Online
