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At Least 40 Dead In Syria As UN, Washington Take Action Against Damascus

April 29, 2011

By RFE/RL

The United Nation’s top human rights body has passed a resolution that "unequivocally condemns the use of lethal violence against peaceful protestors by the Syrian authorities” and “urges the Syrian government to immediately put an end to all human rights violations."

Members of the UN Human Rights Council also voted to “urgently dispatch a mission” to the Middle Eastern country to investigate the killing and other alleged crimes.

The vote in the Geneva-based body was 26 countries in favor of the resolution and nine against, including traditional Syria allies Russia and China. Seven abstained and five delegations -- including Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain -- were not present for the vote.

Ahead of the vote, Moscow warned against "outside interference" in the Syrian crisis.

"The important thing, we believe, is that despite the escalation of tensions and confrontation, the current situation in Syria does not pose a threat to international peace and security," said Alexander Pankin, .Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, on April 27.

The rights body also affirmed that "all UN member states shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."

Earlier Syria's UN ambassador, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, protested a draft of the resolution, which was sponsored by the United States, saying the council was being misled. He said Syria was only defending itself against extremists.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing financial sanctions against three top Syrian officials, including two member of the Assad family, Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is already subject to U.S. sanctions.

The White House said that through the Revolutionary Guard, Tehran is providing material support to the Assad regime's crackdown on protesters.

The new measures will supplement sanctions imposed on Syria under former President George W. Bush.

At European Union headquarters in Brussels, diplomats reached preliminary agreement on imposing another set of punitive measures against the Assad regime.

EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton is expected to announce in coming days sanctions that include an embargo on the sale of weapons and security equipment used in the crackdown on protesters, as well as travel bans and asset freezes on Syrian officials.

In addition, negotiations on an EU-Syria association agreement could be frozen, and existing cooperation would be put under "review," which means EU aid to the country -- totaling some $64 million a year -- could be suspended.

Death Toll Mounts

The international response came on a day where thousands of Syrians turned out across the country for a “Friday of Rage” to protest the regime’s brutal response to six weeks of peaceful calls for democratic reform.

In the southern city of Daara, where the protests began and where security forces have used tanks and fired on demonstrators, gunfire again felled several protesters.

Syrian rights activists and medical sources report that at least 40 people were killed in today’s clashes. Because of government restrictions on the media, the death toll could not be independently confirmed, but activists said it is likely to rise.

Gunfire and casualties were also reported in the key port city of Latakia.

Other demonstrations were reported in the central city of Homs, the coastal cities of Banias, the northern cities of Raqqa and Hama, and the Kurdish populated northeastern town of Qamishli.

The reports of new casualties come as Syrian human rights groups said ahead of today's protests that more than 500 people have died during the past six weeks of antigovernment rallies. Almost all those who have died were shot by security forces.

Ahead of today's rallies, Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood for the first time publicly joined the protest movement. The organization's leadership in exile called on citizens across Syria to come to the aid of protesters.

with reporting from agencies and Nikola Krastev in New York

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria_braces_for_new_day_of_rage_as_deaths_mount_un_sanctions_obama/16797676.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.