<\/span>(Geneva, April 29, 2011) – The United Nations Human Rights
\nCouncil should strongly condemn repression of peaceful protests in Syria and
\nmount an investigation into recent violence, Human Rights Watch said. The
\ncouncil is meeting to discuss Syria on April 29, 2011, following a request for
\na special session by 16 council members, including the United States, South
\nKorea, Mexico, Senegal, and Zambia.\n<\/p>\n\nThe United States has put forward a draft resolution for the
\nsession that condemns the killing, arrest, and torture of peaceful protesters
\nin Syria and calls for the establishment of an international commission of
\ninquiry into abuses in the country.\n<\/p>\n
\n“Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad needs to hear an
\nunequivocal message from the Human Rights Council that violent suppression of
\npeaceful protests is unacceptable and will have consequences,” said Julie de
\nRivero, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch. “An international investigation
\ninto the Syria crackdown should help deter further violence.”\n<\/p>\n
\nHuman Rights Watch has reported that Syrian security forces
\nhave responded to largely peaceful protests with lethal force, including live
\nammunition fired from military assault weapons, resulting in at least 300
\ndeaths. The death toll from the violence could be as high as 453, according to
\nthe Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN Special Rapporteur on
\nextrajudicial executions stressed that “live ammunition is being used in clear
\nviolation of international law.”\n<\/p>\n
\nThe violence has escalated in recent days with more than 100
\nprotesters killed on April 22-23, according to Human Rights Watch. <\/span>The authorities have prevented medical
\npersonnel in at least two towns from tending to wounded protesters, and injured
\npeople have been denied access to hospitals. They have also detained at least
\n1,100 protesters, some of whom have been beaten and tortured. The security
\nservices have also arbitrarily arrested and tortured activists, writers, and
\njournalists who have reported on or expressed support for the anti-government
\nprotests.\n<\/p>\n\nThe Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has
\ncirculated an alternative text to the draft council resolution that softens all
\nlanguage critical of Syria and includes no action to address the ongoing
\ncrisis. Four Syrian and Egyptian human rights organizations have denounced the
\nOIC’s position, and called on the Arab League to publicly reject the OIC’s
\nrevisions. <\/span>The organizations said that
\nthe OIC’s proposals “constitute an additional crime against the Syrian people
\nand an insult to the blood of martyrs of democratic uprisings in Egypt,
\nTunisia, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain.”\n<\/p>\n\nWhile suppressing protests at home, Syria is actively
\ncampaigning for a seat on the Human Rights Council, with elections to the body
\nscheduled in the UN General Assembly on May 20.
\n<\/span>The draft resolution states that the General Assembly resolution
\nestablishing the council “requires Member States to take into account the
\ncontribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights”
\nwhen electing new members. <\/span>Although that
\nproposition would seem unassailable, Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group,
\nobjected to its inclusion in the draft resolution. Middle Eastern and Asian
\nhuman rights organizations have also called for UN member states to reject
\nSyria’s bid for a seat on the Council.\n<\/p>\n\n“Governments should tell Syria in no uncertain terms that
\nits rampant abuses disqualify it from membership on the Human Rights Council,”
\nde Rivero said. <\/span>“Syria’s election bid
\ndiscredits all those who support it, as well as the council itself.”\n<\/p>\n\nHuman Rights Watch has also called for urgent action by the
\nHuman Rights Council on the ongoing human rights crises in Bahrain and Yemen,
\nwhich to date have not been addressed by the council.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor more Human Rights Watch reporting on Syria, please
\nvisit:\n<\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.hrw.org\/en\/middle-east\/n-africa<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\nUN: Rights Body Should Investigate Syrian Crackdown<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\nReject Syria’s Bid for Human Rights Council Seat<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n(Geneva, April 29, 2011) – The United Nations Human Rights
\nCouncil should strongly condemn repression of peaceful protests in Syria and
\nmount an investigation into recent violence, Human Rights Watch said. The
\ncouncil is meeting to discuss Syria on April 29, 2011, following a request for
\na special session by 16 council members, including the United States, South
\nKorea, Mexico, Senegal, and Zambia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}