{"id":270,"date":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=270","title":{"rendered":"Investigation urged into Syrian mass grave reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nInvestigation urged
\ninto Syrian mass grave reports<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Syrian authorities must carry out a prompt, impartial
\ninvestigation into reports that a number of bodies were unearthed near the city
\nof Dera’a and into how those deaths occurred, Amnesty International said today.\n<\/p>\n

\nSources have told Amnesty International that local residents
\non the outskirts of the southern city of Dera’a yesterday found a shallow,
\nunmarked grave containing the bodies of at least five people – said to be ‘Abd
\nal-Razaq Abazaid and his four sons, Samer, Samir, Suliman and Mohamed Abazaid.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe circumstances of the deaths and the total number of
\ncorpses remain unclear – some reports allege more than two dozen bodies have
\nbeen found.\n<\/p>\n

\n“If true, these reports of multiple corpses buried in a makeshift
\ngrave show an appalling disregard for humanity,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty
\nInternational’s Middle East and North Africa Director.\n<\/p>\n

\n“The Syrian authorities must immediately carry out independent
\nand impartial investigations into these reports and other killings related to
\nthe recent pro-reform protests.”\n<\/p>\n

\n“Anyone found to be responsible for unlawful killings,
\ntorture and other human rights violations must be brought to justice in fair
\ntrials.”\n<\/p>\n

\nAmnesty International has compiled a list of at least 622
\npeople killed by Syrian security forces around the country since pro-reform
\nprotests began in mid-March.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA focal point of nationwide pro-reform protests, Dera’a is
\none of several cities that have been placed under military control in recent weeks.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn Sunday, the security forces relaxed a curfew, allowing
\nlocal residents to move around the city from 8am until 5pm daily, a local
\nactivist told Amnesty International.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn Monday, Dera’a residents apparently informed the security
\nforces after accidentally discovering bodies in an open field behind a
\ngraveyard in the city. They were reportedly buried in a hole in the ground that
\nhad been covered with dirt and straw.\n<\/p>\n

\nEyewitnesses reported that members of the security forces
\nwere present while attempts were made to identify the bodies. The names of the dead
\nhave yet to be officially confirmed.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe circumstances in which they died are also unclear, but
\none local activist told Amnesty International the bodies are believed to be
\nthose of people who were shot dead by Syrian security forces while they were
\nattempting to escape from the city.\n<\/p>\n

\n“If these people were unarmed and shot by security forces
\nwhile fleeing, the killings would amount to extrajudicial executions,” said
\nMalcolm Smart.\n<\/p>\n

\n“The Syrian authorities should invite in UN human rights
\nexperts to carry out or assist with direct investigations into the hundreds of
\nkillings and other serious human rights violations that have occurred in recent
\nweeks.”\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Syrian government has denied the existence of a mass
\ngrave near Dera’a. Syrian authorities have repeatedly claimed that recent
\nprotests have been orchestrated by “armed terrorist groups” attempting to
\noverthrow the government.\n<\/p>\n

\nAmnesty International has recently called on the UN Security
\nCouncil to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court as
\na nationwide crackdown on pro-reform protests has continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nInvestigation urged
\ninto Syrian mass grave reports<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Syrian authorities must carry out a prompt, impartial
\ninvestigation into reports that a number of bodies were unearthed near the city
\nof Dera’a and into how those deaths occurred, Amnesty International said today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}