SYRIA – Massacre on the eve of Ramadan

Copenhagen – 1 August The EMHRN condemns in the strongest
terms the escalation of lethal violence in Syria and denounces the persistence
of the Syrian government in continuing its crackdown on the peaceful protest
movement, which is spreading throughout the country.

At dawn on 31 July, the Syrian armed forces stormed the city
and suburbs of Hama, using heavy artillery against the civilian population,
which has resulted in a large number of fatalities and an unknown number of
wounded. At the same time, the Syrian authorities launched an assault in other
regions in the country, especially against the cities of Deraa (in the south),
Deir ez-Zor and al-Bukamal (in eastern Syria), as well as the suburbs of
Damascus, in particular Moadamiyya.

The EMHRN has obtained a list of 75 casualties, among whom
are two children, Lyal Askar (8 years old, in Deraa) and Omar Al Masri (13
years old, in Hama), as well as an ambulance driver in the Hama region, Haitham
Najib Abdelrahman. The actual loss of life is very likely much higher but
remains impossible to determine at the moment because foreign observers are not
allowed into Syria.

According to human rights organisations in Syria with which
the EMHRN is in contact, hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained in less
than 48 hours, especially in al-Bukamal and Deir ez-Zor (in the east), Lattakia
(in the west) and al-Qamishli (in the north), as well as in Deraa in the south
and in the Damascus area (in Douma, al-Qadam, Moadamiyya and Berze, among
others). Among those arrested is Sheikh Nawaf Bin Ragheb Bin Hamood al-Bashir,
a member of the Damascus Declaration in Syria. The EMHRN stresses that enforced
disappearances and the practice of torture in the context of widespread or
systematic attacks are crimes against humanity.

The president of the EMHRN, Kamel Jendoubi, has made the
following statement: “The Syrian regime has openly decided to plunge the
country into a bloodbath. The deliberate use of military weapons against
civilians is an international crime, and those who are responsible must face
justice.”

The EMHRN urges the European Union and the entire
international community to offer assistance to the Syrian people and to use all
the diplomatic means at their disposal towards bringing the crackdown to an
end, including by adopting a resolution at the UN Security Council referring
allegation of crimes against humanity to the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court.

For more information please contact

 For Arabci and
English , Shaimaa Aboul EL khir, tel :202 0101077207

email: shy@euromedrights.com

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