{"id":335,"date":"2011-08-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T00:00:00","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=335","title":{"rendered":"Syrian Attacks Show Blatant Disregard for Security Council Call"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nFor Immediate Release
\nSyria: UN Team Should Insist on Protection of Protesters
\nSyrian Attacks Show Blatant Disregard for Security Council Call<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n (New York, August 24, 2011) – The UN humanitarian
\nassessment mission in Syria<\/a> should demand guarantees from the government that
\nsecurity forces will fully respect the right to peaceful assembly in areas the
\nUN team visits, Human Rights Watch said today.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nShortly after the UN mission left the area on August 21,
\n2011, security forces opened fire on protesters gathered near the Clock Tower
\nSquare in Homs. The protesters had gathered as the UN convoy drove by to draw
\nattention to their plight by carrying banners that read “SOS” and “We will
\nnever stop until we get our freedom.” Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that
\nsecurity forces killed three peaceful protesters gathered near the square, and
\na fourth succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter. A witness who visited some
\nnearby private hospitals told Human Rights Watch that he knew of six wounded taken
\nto al-Barr Hospital, four to Bab Sba` hospital, and one to `Ummali hospital.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n“Syria has demonstrated with gunfire and bloodshed that its
\npromise to allow the UN to conduct a humanitarian mission without hindrance is<\/p>\n

hollow,” said Sarah Leah Whitson<\/a>, Middle East director at Human Rights
\nWatch. “The UN needs to get cast-iron guarantees that this will not happen
\nagain.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA Homs witness told Human Rights Watch that the security
\nforces were 25 meters away from the protesters when they opened fire, both in
\nthe air and at the protesters. “I saw a protester die a few meters away,” he
\nsaid. “Blood was gushing from his head. I think he died on the spot.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nSyria allowed the UN team to visit some centers of the
\nprotests and repression to assess humanitarian needs, and had promised
\nunhindered access. Anti-government activists had expressed concern to Human
\nRights Watch that the authorities would only take the UN team to pro-government
\nareas.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n“We learned that the UN team was coming to our city,” a
\nHoms-based activist told Human Rights Watch, “so we organized a protest to tell
\nthem to visit our neighborhoods and not those that the government picks.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters in New York that
\n“a protest situation developed” in Homs during the team’s visit “and the
\nmission was advised to leave for security reasons.” He added that, “The mission
\ndid not come under fire.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nOne protester told Human Rights Watch, “After they left, the
\nsecurity forces opened fire on us.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAnother activist based in Rastan, a town near Homs that
\nsuffered heavy fighting during the past few weeks, expressed disappointment
\nthat the UN team would not be visiting that site.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n“The UN should insist that Syrian authorities allow it
\nunhindered and independent access to the protest areas,” Whitson said.
\n“Otherwise the mission risks being perceived as a government-sponsored guided
\ntour.”\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nLocal activists posted multiple videos on YouTube apparently
\nshowing some of the day’s events. A Homs resident who reviewed the footage with
\nHuman Rights Watch confirmed that the footage was from Homs. In one video clip<\/a><\/p>\n