Perilous
Times
Death toll in Syria protests rises to 2,700: U.N. rights
office
By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian security forces have killed 2,700
anti-government protesters since an uprising against President
Bashar al-Assad started in March, including at least 100 children,
the United Nations human rights office said on Monday.
Kyung-wha Kang, deputy U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights,
said her office was prepared to send its confidential list of 50
suspects linked to alleged crimes against humanity to the
International Criminal Court, if the Security Council refers the
situation in Syria to the Hague-based court.
She called on Assad's government to cooperate with an
international inquiry into the bloodshed so as to ensure
accountability for all violations and to "break the culture of
impunity in the country."
"As of today, 2,700 people, including at least 100 children, have
been killed by military and security forces since mass protests
erupted in mid-March," Kang said in a speech to the U.N. Human
Rights Council.
"Let me conclude by emphasizing the importance of holding
perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable. The office
has found that such crimes may have been committed in Syria," she
said, citing a U.N. report issued in August.
Kang, in response to questions about the office's list of 50
alleged perpetrators, said of the ICC: "Should the court be
engaged and request the office's assistance at any stage of its
investigation into violations in Syria, the office will be ready
to provide them with the information, including the confidential
list of names as appropriate."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, speaking in New York, also
said that Syria must answer for crimes against humanity.
CRUSHING PROTESTS
Syrian security forces, "backed by tanks, helicopters and snipers"
continue to crush protests in cities including Homs, Latakia,
Deraa and Damascus, Kang told the 47-member forum.
A large-scale assault in Homs this month had left at least 23
civilians dead and scores injured, she said. "Syrian security
forces are reported to have forcibly removed wounded people from
hospitals, including from operating rooms, in Homs and prevented
medical personnel from reaching the injured."
In more violence on Monday, Syrian security forces killed at least
six villagers and two rebel soldiers in a sweep on the countryside
north of Homs, activists and residents said.
Syria's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui,
rejected as biased both Kang's presentation and the findings of
the preliminary U.N. report, drawn up by U.N. investigators who
were not allowed to enter the country.
"There are many gangs in Syria...These gangs have responded by
generating sedition, attacking innocent civilians, destroying
police stations and killing a number of members of the police
force," he said.
Many have been arrested and confessed that they were "shooting at
protesters in order to incite violence," he said.
Syria's government would continue to implement its comprehensive
reform program and to protect its citizens and their property,
according to Khabbaz Hamoui.
Delegations speaking in support of Syria during the debate
included Belarus, Iran and Venezuela.
U.S. ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe denounced the Syrian
government's "continued campaign of repression" and reiterated
Washington's call for Assad to step down.
"The body count rises on a daily basis," she said, citing
allegations in the U.N. report which found Syrian forces
responsible for arbitrary executions, detention and torture.
"Again and again, Damascus has blamed armed insurgents for the
harm caused to thousands of their citizens who have bled on the
streets of Syria...These assertions have no credibility," Donahoe
declared.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Rosalind Russell