The death toll from a day of security raids and violence in Syria has risen to at least 28 people, activists said yesterday, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came under mounting worldwide pressure to end eight months of bloodshed.
Tuesday’s violence came as a key UN committee voted to condemn human rights violations by al-Assad’s government and called for an immediate end to all violence. Nearly 4,000 people have been reported killed in the military crackdown on the popular uprising since March.
Two main activist groups — the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees — documented the deaths, which were reported in the central cities of Hama and Homs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and elsewhere.
Photo: Reuters
The nonbinding resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday calls on Syrian authorities to implement an Arab League peace plan, agreed to earlier this month, “without further delay.”
It also urges the withdrawal of government tanks from the streets, the release of political prisoners, a halt to attacks on civilians and allowing observers into the country.
The resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany, was passed by a vote of 122-13 with 41 abstentions. It must now be approved at a plenary session of the 193-member world body, where its adoption is virtually certain.
US Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement that the committee’s first-ever resolution on Syria’s human rights violations “has sent a clear message that it does not accept abuse and death as a legitimate path to retaining power.”
Syria tried to prevent a vote on the resolution, introducing a motion to take “no action,” but it was overwhelmingly defeated.
Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari again accused Britain, France and Germany of “waging a media, political and diplomatic war against Syria” and encouraging armed groups to engage in violence rather than national dialogue with the government.
Although the European powers sponsored the resolution, he said, “it is not a secret that the United States of America is the mastermind and main instigator of the political campaign against my country.”
The resolution had more than 60 co-sponsors, including Syria’s fellow Arab nations Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and Kuwait, and neighbor Turkey, which has been outspoken in its criticism of al-Assad’s crackdown and is hosting Syrian opposition groups.
Syria only got support from Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, who objected to targeting a single country for what they called political motives.
China, one of the 41 nations to abstain, yesterday said the resolution was “counterproductive.”
“Using a resolution to pressure other countries is counterproductive to easing the situation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin (劉為民) told a regular press briefing.
“We always believe that constructive dialogue and cooperation is the only way to promote and protect human rights,” Liu said.
It was a victory for the three European powers who failed last month to win approval for a legally binding UN Security Council resolution threatening sanctions against Syria for its violent crackdown because of Russian and Chinese vetoes.
Additional reporting by AFP
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