Syria: Human Rights Council passes resolution on Syria as
death toll rises

Alkarama applauds the UN Human Rights Council for passing
resolution S-16/1, at its special session on Syria on 29 April 2011, formally
condemning the Syrian government for its use of force against peaceful
pro-democracy protestors. An overwhelming majority of member states voted for
the opening of an OHCHR-led investigation into the human rights abuses in the
country, including the extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary
arrests of civilians by Syrian security forces.

Overshadowing the special session, however, came newly
verified reports of the deaths of a further 219 individuals at the hands of
Syrian authorities between 27 and 19 April, which Alkarama communicated to the
UN special procedures today. Since 20 March 2011, Alkarama has submitted 472 cases
of extrajudicial killings to the UN human rights procedures – the total has now
risen to 691 confirmed deaths.

The Human Rights Council has called upon the Syrian
government to "immediately put an end to all human rights violations,
protect its population, and respect fully all human rights and fundamental
freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly; further
urges the authorities to allow access to the Internet and telecommunications
networks and to lift censorship on reporting, including by allowing appropriate
access by foreign journalists."

Participation from Arab member states to the Human Right
Council was relatively sparse during special session. Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain
were all absent at the time of the vote, while Saudi Arabia and Djibouti both
abstained. Perhaps the significant fact is that no Arab member state
technically voted against the resolution.

The concerning aspect of the current human rights situation
in Syria is not only limited to the number of killings carried about by the
Syrian authorities, but the sheer volume and variety of human rights
violations, including tarbitrary detentions and persecution of journalists and
human rights defenders working to report on the current situation. Alkarama has
for example documented at least 1200 arrests since protests began in mid-March
2011.

As the situation becomes dangerously violative, Alkarama is
now receiving reports that Syria hospitals and ambulances are being targeted by
Syrian security agents. Many of the doctors have resorted to using veterinarian
offices and make-shift surgery rooms to treat injured patients.

Despite international condemnation, the Syrian government
has done very little to resolve the deteriorating human rights situation
plaguing its cities. While some thought that the violence and suppression would
subsist when Syria approved a bill to rescind the country’s decades-old
Emergency Law on 19 April 2011, the security services responded by targeting a
funeral procession with lethal force, killing at least six, before attacking
peaceful demonstrators in the capital Damascus, killing at least 100.

In the light of the widespread pattern of human rights
abuses in Syria, Alkarama calls on the Syrian government to respect the
measures indicated in the Human Rights Council’s Resolution S-16/1 and
immediately refrain from using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators,
release all prisoners of conscience and peaceful protestors, and cooperate
fully with the mission to be dispatched by the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights to investigate allegations of human rights violations.