For Immediate Release
UN: Syria Ends Rights Body
Bid, but Not Repression
Security Council Should Press to
End Crackdown, Impose Sanctions
(New York, May 11, 2011) – Syria’s
withdrawal of its candidacy for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights
Council on May 11, 2011, should be followed by an end to its violent crackdown
on peaceful protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Human rights groups
from across the region and the world had called on General Assembly members to reject Syria’s
candidacy for the rights body.
“This election had become a referendum on Syria’s violent suppression of
protests, and Syria withdrew rather than face a resounding defeat,” said Peggy
Hicks, global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Syria needs to do more
than keep its head low to avoid further condemnation, though; it needs to
change course and stop the violence.”
Human Rights Watch has reported the
use of live ammunition and other abuses by Syria’s security forces against
peaceful protesters since demonstrations began on March 16, with some 700 dead,
according to Syrian human rights groups. The violence has escalated in recent
weeks, with more than 100 protesters killed on April 22 and 23 alone, and at
least several thousand detained. The Syrian army has held the southern town of
Daraa under siege
since April 25, cutting electricity, phone lines, and internet services, and
preventing free movement into and out of the city.
With Syria out of the race, Kuwait has announced its bid for a seat on the
council. Kuwait joins India, Indonesia, and the Philippines as candidates from
the Asian group. That leaves Asia again with a slate of four candidates for the
four seats open for the region in this year’s election, meaning there will
effectively be no choice. The UN General Assembly will hold the elections for the
Human Rights Council on May 20. Last year, all regional groups put forward what
are called “clean” slates, with the same number of candidates as the available
seats. Under the General Assembly resolution that established the Human Rights
Council in 2006, council members are expected to “uphold the highest standards”
of human rights.
“The pre-cooked nature of elections to the Human Rights Council is a major
problem, as Syria’s candidacy shows,” Hicks said. “States collude to avoid any
competition in Human Rights Council elections, which benefits human rights
abusers like Syria.”
The Human Rights Council “unequivocally condemned” Syria’s use of lethal violence
against peaceful protesters on April 29. The council also asked the UN Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate ongoing human rights
violations by Syria, and urged Syria to cooperate fully with that
investigation.
The UN Security Council was briefed on the situation in Syria on April 27, but
it took no action. It did not even issue a statement, due in particular to
opposition from Russia and China.
“Syria may have avoided facing the music in the UN General Assembly by
withdrawing its candidacy, but it shouldn’t be so lucky in the Security
Council,” Hicks said. “The Security Council should take action on Syria,
including imposing travel bans and financial sanctions on those responsible for
the violence.”
Human Rights Watch also called for Kuwait to take steps to address human rights
concerns in that country in the context of its candidacy for a Human Rights
Council seat. Kuwait has only recently begun to make limited reforms to improve
the situation of over 100,000 Bidun, or stateless people, in the country. It
has yet to deliver upon promises made in September 2010 to reform the
immigration sponsorship system, which leaves over 2 million migrant workers
vulnerable to employer abuse, and it has no law to protect the labor rights of
the country’s more than 660,000 domestic workers.
For more information on
Syria’s candidacy for the Human Rights Council, please visit: www.hrw.org/no-on-syria
For more Human Rights Watch
reporting on Syria, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/syria