Global IssuesSyria Promises Reform as U.N. Condemns Crackdown
Protesters braved live ammunition from security forces Monday in the southern Syrian city of Dara'a, where rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed since pro-democracy activists took to the streets to demand greater freedoms from the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an investigation into the recent crackdown in Dara'a. Last week, Syrian authorities reportedly used tear gas and live ammunition on protesters who gathered in response to the government's arrest of children earlier this month for spraying anti-government graffiti.
'The secretary-general reiterates his call on the Syrian authorities to refrain from violence and to abide by their international commitments regarding human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly,' Martin Nesirky, Ban's spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday.
Since then, the situation has worsened considerably, said the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the protests spread across the country and the violence and killings persist. On Friday morning, Ban spoke with Assad and emphasised that the government had a responsibility to respect Syrian citizens' fundamental rights and that protesters had been expressing their aspirations peacefully.
The U.N.'s response to events in Syria has kept in line with rhetoric on Yemen and Bahrain, among other Middle Eastern countries, and the secretary-general's reminders that governments should act in accordance with international humanitarian law and address their peoples' needs through political dialogue and reform.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, called the Syrian government's crackdown 'appalling and brutal'. He said that Amnesty was 'deeply disturbed by reports' of killings in Dara'a.
Human Rights Watch declared, 'Syria's security forces should immediately stop using live ammunition against protesters.' It also called for the government to immediately release those who had been detained for peaceful protesting. Protests and demonstrations have spread to other cities in Syria, including Damascus, Hama, and Aleppo, with reports of security forces shooting protesters and killing some in Sanamein and Damascus. Protesters' demands include an end to corruption, release of political prisoners, and lifting of the emergency law.
In an acknowledgement of these grievances, Buthaina Shaaban, a government spokeperson, said Thursday that the Syrian government would consider lifting the emergency law, in place since 1963, and pledged to investigate the violence.
Other gestures included promises to increase salaries and decrease taxes. Yet according to the BBC, she blamed the protests on foreign elements and denied that the Syrian government had ordered security forces to fire on protesters. Many experts question the validity of promises for reform.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service