Security forces killed at least 15 people and arrested more than 200 in Syria, activists said, as Human Rights Watch yesterday denounced a “deliberate policy” to disperse protesters with deadly force.
The deaths came as Damascus accused a US envoy of inciting violence in Hama — where nearly half a million people protested on Friday — a charge roundly denied by Washington which accused the Syrian embassy of spying on demonstrators in the US.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces had also arrested more than 200 people around the country on Friday, more than half of them in Homs.
The London-based watchdog’s director Rami Abdel Rahman said a record 450,000 Syrians rallied after Friday prayers in Hama, an opposition bastion, under the banner “No to dialogue” with Assad’s regime and called for its ouster.
Both US envoy Robert Ford and French ambassador Eric Chevallier visited the city on Thursday.
Damascus accused Ford of meeting with “saboteurs” there and of inciting people to violence, but the US State Department said the ambassador had done no such thing and had gone as an international observer with the regime’s knowledge.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry called Ford’s presence in Hama “obvious proof of the implication of the United States in the ongoing events, and of their attempts to increase [tensions], which damage Syria’s security and stability.”
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she was “dismayed” by such criticism and stressed that Syrian authorities knew of the visit in advance.
She also took issue with government claims that armed gangs are the problem in Hama — where activists say regime forces have killed 25 people since Tuesday — stressing that Ford “saw no evidence of this.”
Washington summoned the Syrian ambassador for talks after reports that embassy staff had filmed US protests against the crackdown in Syria, the US Department of State said on Friday.
Imad Mustapha was called in to meet with top State Department officials “to express a number of our concerns with the reported actions of certain Syrian embassy staff in the United States. We received reports that Syrian mission personnel under ambassador Mustapha’s authority have been conducting video and photographic surveillance of people participating in peaceful demonstrations in the United States.”
Rights groups say that security forces have killed more than 1,300 civilians and arrested at least 12,000 since anti-government protests erupted in mid-March.
New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a damning criticism of Syrian security forces for firing on unarmed civilians and for beating detainees, based on testimony from alleged defectors.
“All of the interviewed defectors told Human Rights Watch that their superiors had told them that they were fighting infiltrators [mundaseen], salafists and terrorists,” a statement said.
“The defectors said they were surprised to encounter unarmed protesters instead, but were still ordered to fire on them in a number of instances. The defectors also reported that those who refused orders to shoot on protesters ran the risk of being shot themselves,” it said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old