{"id":316,"date":"2011-08-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T00:00:00","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=316","title":{"rendered":"Open letter to the members of the UN Security Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)<\/p>\n


\nSyria : Open letter to the members of the UN Security Council<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.fidh.org\/Open-letter-to-members-of-the-UN<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nAttn members of the UN Security Council<\/strong><\/p>\n

Damascus, New-York, Paris, August 2, 2011<\/em>
\nRe. Situation in Syria<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excellencies,\n<\/p>\n

\nFIDH and its Syrian member and partner organisations are
\ndeeply concerned about the ongoing repression in Syria, the increasing level of
\nviolence reported on a national scale, the deterioration of the humanitarian
\ncrisis in some targeted areas, and the blackout on the human rights violations
\ncommitted by the Syrian authorities, as the latter continue to refuse
\nterritorial access to independent human rights NGOs, foreign journalists, and
\nUN bodies such as the Fact finding mission on the situation in Syria mandated
\nby the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. <\/p>\n

These crimes may amount to crimes against humanity, yet, members of the UN Security
\nCouncil have so far failed to a react in line with their mandate under chapter
\nVII of the UN Charter and in application of their Responsibility to Protect.<\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the uprising in Syria in March 2011, FIDH and its Syrian
\nmember and partner organisations have received a considerable amount of
\ninformation on the commission of extra-judicial killings, the systematic use of
\nviolence by governmental forces, mass arrests, abductions, enforced
\ndisappearances and detention of civilians, acts of torture, degrading or
\ninhumane treatments, repression of the freedom of peaceful assembly and
\nviolations of the right to freedom of information, in particular by targeting
\nthe media and human rights defenders, military operations and actions
\nundertaken to besiege cities, and practices amounting to collective punishment
\nand to the deprivation of food, water, and medical supplies, as well as the
\nrestriction and denial of access to hospitals. A compilation of this
\ninformation released last week, has been sent to your attention.<\/p>\n

The UN High Commissioner for Human rights, the UN Human Rights Council, and the
\nUN Secretary General have all called the Syrian authorities to put an end to
\nthe repression, but this has not had an  impact on the situation. On July
\n22, United Nations watchdogs, Francis Deng, the UN Special Adviser of the
\nSecretary General on the prevention of Genocide and Edward Luck, the Special
\nAdviser on the Responsibility to Protect alerted that crimes against humanity
\nmay have been committed and continue to be committed.<\/p>\n

Yet, in spite of these repeated calls, the repression continues to unfold
\nbefore our eyes. Over the past few days, between July 31st and August 1st , the
\nrepression in Syria reached a higher degree of gravity. In the city of Hama alone,
\non July 31st, more than 100 people were killed as the Syrian authorities
\nreportedly used heavy artillery, such as tanks, to bomb houses and civil
\ninfrastructures. On August 1st, the first day of Ramadan, at least 41 civilans
\ndied in several cities and villages across Syria including Hama, Arbeen,
\nMoadamieh, Daraa, Al-Bokamal, Der Al Zour, and Homs. The use of lethal weapons
\nby Syrian forces and raids of arbitrary arrests as well as with further
\nallegations of torture were also reported.<\/p>\n

As the death toll since the beginning of the uprising comes close to 2000
\ndeaths, the Syrian authorities continue to open fire on the civilian
\npopulation, while several villages and cities across Syria are still besieged
\nby the Syrian army, causing the civilian population to remain in urgent need of
\nfood and medical care. The nature of the violations under way allow us to
\nconclude that crimes against humanity under the jurisdiction of the
\nInternational Criminal court are being perpetrated by the Syrian authorities.<\/p>\n

We thus call upon members of the United Nations Security Council to intervene
\nurgently in application of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, as well as of their
\nResponsibility to Protect, which world leaders affirmed at the World Summit of
\n2005, in order to prevent the commission of further crimes, protect the
\ncivilian population and prosecute those responsible, in adopting a resolution
\nwhich, inter alia,\n<\/p>\n