UN General Assembly demands Syria halt violence immediately by UN News, Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay 9:16am 9th Feb, 2012   12 March 2012    Syrian civilians continue to bear brunt of ‘collective punishment’, says UN rights panel.    Civilians continue to bear the brunt of violence in Syria, the head of the United Nations-appointed panel probing human rights abuses in the country said today, noting that the use of force by security forces and the military against armed groups has often led to collective punishment.    Those killed over the past year since the pro-democracy uprising began include more than 500 children, Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told the UN Human Right Council in Geneva.    “This is a tragic indicator of the human rights conditions in areas of unrest,” he said. “Some children were targeted by snipers; others were victims of indiscriminate shelling. Force used by the Government against armed groups often led to collective punishment of civilians.    “Children continue to be injured, detained and tortured. In many cases they are treated as adults, in disregard of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Mr. Pinheiro, adding that communities in Syria “live in despair.”    Mr. Pinheiro told the Council that the “reliable body of evidence” from the Commission’s investigations indicated that “particular individuals may reasonably be suspected of bearing responsibility for international crimes,” saying that the findings may assist future independent and credible investigations by competent authorities.    Anti-Government groups have also committed abuses, he said, although there is a great disparity between the means they use and those deployed by Government forces.    “It is imperative to break this cycle of violence to avert escalation of the armed confrontations into civil war,” said Mr. Pinheiro. “Full accountability requires fundamental reforms in the Syrian justice sector, including the repeal of laws that shield armed and security forces from justice,” he added.    A national and inclusive dialogue is essential to break the current impasse and build a democratic society that respects and ensures the rights of all Syrians, he said.    Mr. Pinheiro stressed that the international community must work with unity of purpose to meet the legitimate aspirations for human rights, dignity and justice of all communities in Syria. He urged support for the efforts of the Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, to help bring an end to violence and to promote a peaceful solution to the crisis.    “Ultimately, it will be up to the Syrian people to determine the process and mechanisms to achieve reconciliation, truth and justice,” he said.    The Syrian Government itself had informed the Commission that it had gathered information on 4,800 cases of human rights violations, Mr. Pinheiro said.    The violence has displaced at least 70,000 Syrians within the country and thousands have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, he added.    The Commission was established by the Council last August to investigate violations of international human rights law in the country since March last year when the pro-democracy protests began.    In its report in November, the team said that the Syrian military and security forces have committed crimes against humanity during their crackdown against protesters.    Mr. Annan, who visited Syria over the weekend, spoke today about the “grave and appalling” reports of atrocities and abuses in the country. “The killing of civilians must stop now. The world has to send a clear and united message in this regard,” he told reporters in Ankara, Turkey.    Meanwhile, addressing a Security Council meeting on the changes in the Middle East, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to the call by Mr. Annan when he met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus over the weekend to act swiftly and respond within days to the envoy’s proposals to end the violence.    Mr. Annan urged the Syrian leader to embrace change and reforms to create the foundation for a democratic society in his country, adding that the “transformational winds blowing today cannot be long resisted.”    Mr. Ban called on the UN Security Council to unite strongly behind efforts to end the violence in Syria and to support Mr. Annan’s mission (this includes Russia and China, Syrian Government allies).    1 March 2012    UN Human Rights Council deplores ‘brutal’ actions by Syria against civilians.    The top United Nations human rights body today deplored the “brutal” actions of the Syrian authorities in response to the popular uprising that began nearly a year ago and called for an immediate end to attacks against civilians and other abuses.    In a resolution adopted by a vote of 37 in favour to 3 against, with 3 abstentions, the 47-member Human Rights Council strongly condemned the continued “widespread and systematic” violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities.    These include the use of force against civilians, arbitrary executions, the killing and persecution of protestors, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence, including of children.    China, Cuba and Russia voted against the text, while Ecuador, India and the Philippines abstained during the vote, which came at the end of an urgent debate held by the Council on the situation in Syria.    In the resolution, the Council deplored the “brutal actions of the Syrian regime over the past 11 months,” and reiterated the need to urgently address humanitarian needs, to facilitate the effective delivery of assistance and to ensure safe access to medical treatment.    It called on the Syrian Government to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians, to cease all violence, to allow free and unimpeded access by the UN and humanitarian agencies to carry out a full assessment of needs in the city of Homs, which has been under severe attack for over a month, and other areas, and to permit humanitarian agencies to deliver vital relief goods and services to all civilians affected by the violence.    Last night Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the situation in Syria – where thousands of civilians have died over the past year as a result of a Government crackdown against a pro-democracy uprising – “has grown increasingly desperate.”    Speaking after his meeting with former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the newly-appointed Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the Arab League for Syria, Mr. Ban stressed that there is no more urgent task before the international community than to immediately end the killing.    “We seek a cessation of violence that sets the stage for a peaceful solution – a solution that offers all the Syrian people, regardless of religion or ethnicity or political affiliation, a future of security, dignity and freedom,” he stated.    Meanwhile, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos is still awaiting permission from the Syrian authorities to visit the country to assess the humanitarian situation and renewed the call for urgent humanitarian access.    16 February 2012    UN General Assembly demands Syria halt violence immediately.    The United Nations General Assembly today strongly condemned the continued “widespread and systematic” human rights violations by the Syrian authorities and demanded that the Government cease all violence and protect its people.    The 193-member body adopted a resolution backing Arab League efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, where UN officials estimate that security forces have killed well over 5,400 people since the popular uprising began last March.    Thousands of people are also believed to be missing, some 70,000 people are internally displaced and 25,000 have fled the country to avoid the violence.    The resolution strongly condemned the continued “widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities,” such as the use of force against civilians, arbitrary executions, the killing and persecution of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, interference with access to medical treatment, torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children.    The text, which was adopted by a vote of 138 in favour to 12 against with 17 abstentions, also called on Syria “to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians.”    Today’s action follows the recent failure by the Security Council to agree on collective action on the issue after Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution endorsing Arab League efforts to end the crisis.    UN human rights chief appealed to Member States to act now to protect the Syrian people as the Government’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests continues unabated and the number of dead and injured continues to rise.    “The longer the international community fails to take action, the more the civilian population will suffer from countless atrocities committed against them,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Assembly.    “The Government of Syria has manifestly failed to fulfil its obligation to protect its population,” she stated. “Each and every member of the international community must act now to urgently protect the Syrian population.”    The text also called for “an inclusive Syrian-led political process, conducted in an environment free from violence, fear, intimidation and extremism and aimed at effectively addressing the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the people.”    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called again on the Syrian Government to comply with international humanitarian law and put an end to the “mounting loss of life” the country has experienced over the past year.    Speaking to reporters in Vienna, Mr. Ban stressed that the lack of agreement in the Security Council does not give the Syrian Government a licence to continue to attack its own citizens. “The longer we debate, the more people will die.”    “I commend the continued efforts of the League of Arab States to stop the violence and to seek a peaceful resolution of the crisis that meets the democratic and legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people,” Mr. Ban said.    8 February 2012    The United Nations human rights chief today urged the international community to protect civilians in Syria, stating that the Security Council’s failure to agree on collective action seems to have fuelled the Government’s readiness to massacre its own people.    According to local sources, as well as independent media reports from inside the city of Homs, the Syrian army has sharply increased the use of tanks, helicopters, mortars, rockets and artillery fire to attack civilian areas, stated a news release issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).    “I am appalled by the Syrian Government’s wilful assault on Homs, and its use of artillery and other heavy weaponry in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas in the city,” said High Commissioner Navi Pillay. She stressed the “extreme urgency for the international community to cut through the politics and take effective action to protect the Syrian population.”    The assault on Homs by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces is the latest move in the ongoing crackdown against a popular uprising that emerged early last year as part of the wider pro-democracy and reform movement across North Africa and the Middle East.    On Saturday, the Security Council failed to agree on a resolution backing an Arab League plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, where the UN estimates that over 5,000 civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed since March 2011.    “The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have fuelled the Syrian Government’s readiness to massacre its own people in an effort to crush dissent,” stated Ms. Pillay.    “In addition to the continuing widespread human rights abuses, I fear the humanitarian situation has significantly deteriorated in many parts of the country in recent months, and especially in Homs, where parts of the city have been largely cut off or encircled for long periods,” she said.    The High Commissioner said that in the past 11 months, thousands of Syrian protestors and civilians have been killed, injured, detained, tortured and forcibly disappeared.    “All evidence points to the involvement of the Syrian army and security forces in the perpetration of most of these crimes,” stated Ms. Pillay. “In light of their nature and scale, they may constitute crimes against humanity, punishable under international law.    “Those in command should, however, remember that there is no statute of limitations for serious international crimes, and there will be a sustained effort for as long as it takes to bring justice to all those who have been victims of the gross and systematic crimes taking place in Syria today.”    Ms. Pillay recalled the principle of the ‘responsibility to protect’ agreed to by world leaders at a summit in 2005, whereby the international community as a whole has the responsibility to step in with collective, timely and decisive action when a State is failing to protect its population from serious international crimes.    “The virtual carte blanche now granted to the Syrian Government betrays the spirit and the word of this unanimous decision. It is depriving the population of the protection they so urgently need,” she stated.    An OHCHR fact-finding mission and an independent Commission of Inquiry that investigated the violations in Syria concluded that crimes against humanity may have been committed since mid-March 2011. The High Commissioner had on several occasions last year encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).    As Syrian violence rages on, UNICEF voices alarm over plight of children.    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has sounded the alarm about the plight of children caught up in the bloodshed in Syria, where nearly 11 months of violence have led to the deaths and injuries of hundreds of young people.    “There are reports of children being arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sexually abused while in detention,” the agency said in a statement, adding that reported heavy shelling by Government forces of civilian neighbourhoods in the city of Homs in recent days is no doubt causing further suffering for more children.    “This must stop. Even one child killed in the violence is one child too many,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “We urge the Syrian authorities to allow help to all those who need it desperately.”    UNICEF said there are credible reports, including from international media inside the city, that children are caught up in the violence. “Those injured must be given immediate and unconditional access to specialized medical care,” stressed the agency.    According to media reports, Syrian troops have escalated their assault on Homs, using heavy artillery and shelling against civilians as part of their wider crackdown against a public pro-democracy movement that emerged early last year.    Top UN officials have repeatedly called on the Government to end its violence against the Syrian people, amid a rising death toll that has surpassed 5,000 since the uprising began in March, and to seek a peaceful and durable solution to the crisis.    Death and terror as Syrian army batters Homs    Update February 09, 2012 (News agencies)    People inside the Syrian city of Homs, with apopulation of 1.4 million people say they feel like they are just "waiting to die" as regime troops stepped up a relentless assault on the city’s suburbs. A fifth day of shelling left around 70 people dead on Wednesday..    The shelling and gunfire resumed at dawn and continued all day as regime troops cut off power, communications and supplies in a determined bid to crush any remaining resistance.    Residentss in Homs say they fear the constant shelling is designed to pave the way for a full ground assault in coming days. As the fierce shelling continues, more details are emerging of the plight of those trapped inside the city.    Amateur video posted on YouTube shows small children being treated for head wounds in makeshift hospitals as rebel fighters struggled to protect the people from the government assault.    "I"ve seen whole families killed this week," activist Ahmed, a 28-year-old accountant, told Reuters from Homs. "Now I feel like I"m just waiting to be the next to die."    Speaking by satellite phone from the beleaguered Bab Amro neighbourhood, one activist Hussein Nader said that tanks had moved closer to the besieged district, where 30,000 inhabitants have been without water, electric or telephone lines days.    "There are neighbourhoods on the eastern side of Bab Amro that are disaster zones from heavy shelling," he said. "Dozens of people are under the rubble with no way to get to them because they are firing at anyone who moves in the street."    He said some people were trying to distribute water in bottles but that bandages and antiseptics had run out. If I was to use one word to sum up the mood as we left, it would be despair. People are absolutely terrified..    We counted hundreds of tank shells and heavy artillery shells. Hundreds of mortars; they are using airburst shells as well. There is a lot of sniper fire, and it appears to be deliberately directed at civilians.    "The explosions this morning are deafening," he said. "We can"t reach some areas because of the intensity of the shelling and snipers, and communications have been cut off so we don"t know what is going on."    Activist, Omar Shaker, says 40 per cent of buildings in Baba Amr neighbourhood, targeted with the most intense shelling, had been hit and some areas had been completely destroyed. "Since dawn the shelling has been extremely intense and they are using rockets and mortars," he said.    They have destroyed all infrastructure and bombed water tanks and electricity poles. The humanitarian situation is extremely dire and food is lacking. "We are trying to set up a field hospital but we have no medical supplies." Visit the related web page
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