Syrian crackdown comes under fire at U.N. session on Golan observers
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UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT: Europe and the United States heaped criticism on
Syria at the United Nations Thursday during a renewal of the mandate
for a U.N. observer force in Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as
Syria continued military operations in northern cities close to the
Turkish border.
Israel accuses the Syrian government of orchestrating deadly confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops on May 15 and June 5.
A resolution renewing the mandate for another six months until the end of this year received unanimous support from all 15 council members.
Normally the mandate renewal for the four-decade old force, known as UNDOF, is a routine event without fanfare or controversy. This year the U.S. and European Union diplomats tried to include language condemning Syrian “human rights abuses” in the initial U.S.-drafted text.
Russia, backed by China, threatened to veto UNDOF’s mandate renewal if such language was included. In the end, the resolution expressed “grave concern at the serious events that occurred in UNDOF’s area of operations on 15 May and 5 June that put the long held cease-fire in jeopardy.”
Although it referred to the Golan Heights incidents, in which Israeli soldiers fired on and killed Palestinian protesters, it made no mention of the Syrian crackdown against demonstrators, which human rights activists say resulted in over 1,300 civilian deaths since the uprisings began in March.
Western delegates used Thursday’s council meeting to rail against Syria for killing demonstrators.
Several countries indirectly chided Israel for firing on Palestinian demonstrators in the Golan.TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Rosemary DiCarlo said that Syria had engineered the Golan Heights protests, which the Syrian government said resulted in the deaths of 23 people, as a “transparent ploy” to divert attention from its crackdown on demonstrators.
Deputy British Ambassador Philip Parham said Damascus has ignored calls for it to heed calls for change and reform.
“Instead, they have met legitimate demands for reform with brute force in which an estimated 1,400 people have died in the last three months,” he said. “This is completely unacceptable.”
Syrian army forces spread through the restive mountainous area near the Turkish border Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19, according to activists.
The action by Syrian troops in the northwestern area of Jabal al-Zawiya appeared to be aimed at preventing residents from fleeing to Turkey, where more than 10,000 Syrians have already taken shelter in refugee camps, activists said.
Only five Syrians made it across the border Thursday, the lowest number in days, said Turkish officials.
With relations between the two countries strained by the refugee crisis and with Syrian military operations increasingly encroaching the Turkish border, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday he plans to visit Syria during a tour of the region.
He did not give precise dates for each stage of his tour but stressed the need for Syrian President Bashar Assad to announce “without further delay a calendar of reforms” which would bring an end to the violence in Syria.
“What is important is that the Syrian people prepare for a future based on a vision of reforms which his [Assad’s] administration would offer them,” he said.
Around 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled into two villages in the countryside of Idlib, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdel Rahman said the troops were exiting from the village of Al-Bara when they split into two units, one heading toward the village of Kafr Nabl and the other to the village of Kansafra.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters also joined a call for a mass protest in Syria’s second largest city Aleppo.
Aleppo – Syria’s business heart and home to most of the country’s small middle class – has so far remained immune to the protest movement.
“Hundreds of people took part in several neighborhoods of Aleppo,” said Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for Human Rights.
“Security forces dispersed the protesters who were chanting slogans calling for freedom, using batons.” Rihawi said two people were reportedly wounded.
Israel accuses the Syrian government of orchestrating deadly confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops on May 15 and June 5.
A resolution renewing the mandate for another six months until the end of this year received unanimous support from all 15 council members.
Normally the mandate renewal for the four-decade old force, known as UNDOF, is a routine event without fanfare or controversy. This year the U.S. and European Union diplomats tried to include language condemning Syrian “human rights abuses” in the initial U.S.-drafted text.
Russia, backed by China, threatened to veto UNDOF’s mandate renewal if such language was included. In the end, the resolution expressed “grave concern at the serious events that occurred in UNDOF’s area of operations on 15 May and 5 June that put the long held cease-fire in jeopardy.”
Although it referred to the Golan Heights incidents, in which Israeli soldiers fired on and killed Palestinian protesters, it made no mention of the Syrian crackdown against demonstrators, which human rights activists say resulted in over 1,300 civilian deaths since the uprisings began in March.
Western delegates used Thursday’s council meeting to rail against Syria for killing demonstrators.
Several countries indirectly chided Israel for firing on Palestinian demonstrators in the Golan.TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Rosemary DiCarlo said that Syria had engineered the Golan Heights protests, which the Syrian government said resulted in the deaths of 23 people, as a “transparent ploy” to divert attention from its crackdown on demonstrators.
Deputy British Ambassador Philip Parham said Damascus has ignored calls for it to heed calls for change and reform.
“Instead, they have met legitimate demands for reform with brute force in which an estimated 1,400 people have died in the last three months,” he said. “This is completely unacceptable.”
Syrian army forces spread through the restive mountainous area near the Turkish border Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19, according to activists.
The action by Syrian troops in the northwestern area of Jabal al-Zawiya appeared to be aimed at preventing residents from fleeing to Turkey, where more than 10,000 Syrians have already taken shelter in refugee camps, activists said.
Only five Syrians made it across the border Thursday, the lowest number in days, said Turkish officials.
With relations between the two countries strained by the refugee crisis and with Syrian military operations increasingly encroaching the Turkish border, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday he plans to visit Syria during a tour of the region.
He did not give precise dates for each stage of his tour but stressed the need for Syrian President Bashar Assad to announce “without further delay a calendar of reforms” which would bring an end to the violence in Syria.
“What is important is that the Syrian people prepare for a future based on a vision of reforms which his [Assad’s] administration would offer them,” he said.
Around 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled into two villages in the countryside of Idlib, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdel Rahman said the troops were exiting from the village of Al-Bara when they split into two units, one heading toward the village of Kafr Nabl and the other to the village of Kansafra.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters also joined a call for a mass protest in Syria’s second largest city Aleppo.
Aleppo – Syria’s business heart and home to most of the country’s small middle class – has so far remained immune to the protest movement.
“Hundreds of people took part in several neighborhoods of Aleppo,” said Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for Human Rights.
“Security forces dispersed the protesters who were chanting slogans calling for freedom, using batons.” Rihawi said two people were reportedly wounded.
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