L’ONU accuse le régime syrien de crimes contre l’humanité
►http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2012/08/15/l-onu-accuse-le-regime-syrien-de-crimes-contre-l-humanite_1746416_3218.html
Les forces gouvernementales syriennes et les milices « chabiha » ont commis des crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l’humanité, notamment des meurtres et des actes de torture, ont conclu mercredi des enquêteurs des droits de l’homme des Nations unies.
A propos du massacre commis fin mai à Houla, un village situé au nord de la ville de Homs, les enquêteurs de l’Onu ont estimé que les forces gouvernementales et les « chabiha » se sont rendus coupables de la mort d’une centaine de civils, pratiquement pour la moitié des enfants.
À noter tout de même cette tournure que je trouve assez détestable :
Les insurgés qui se battent pour renverser le président Bachar Al-Assad sont eux-aussi coupables de crimes de guerre dont la gravité, la fréquence et l’amplitude sont toutefois moindres que ceux perpétrés par le camp gouvernemental, relèvent les enquêteurs dans un rapport de 102 pages.
Même façon de procéder dans tous les médias (notamment Al Jazeera) : les crimes de guerre de l’« insurrection » sont évoqués en une seule phrase mentionnant qu’ils sont « de moindre amplitude » que ceux du régime. Comme si les crimes de guerre des « rebelles » étaient justifiés ou rendus acceptables par les crimes du régime.
Government forces accused of fresh Syrian massacre
To read further
►http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9315594/Government-forces-accused-of-fresh-Syrian-massacre.html
Pro-government militiamen attacked collections of buildings in the farming district of Mazraat al-Qabeer and killed civilians in their homes, activists said.
The killings came less than two weeks after a massacre in the town of Houla, in which security forces and pro-Assad militia men known as “Shabiha” killed 108 people, nearly half of them children. There were reports that 35 of those dead were from one family.
The Chilling Words of Syria’s President
By Sanjeev Bery
►http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/the-chilling-words-of-syrias-president
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives a rare rare televised speech delivered in parliament on June 3, 2012. Assad said that his government faces a foreign plot to destroy Syria, and blamed ’monsters’ for the Houla massacre. (Photo Louai Beshara/AFP/GettyImages)
Yesterday, Syrian President Bashar Assad justified his government’s actions by comparing himself to a doctor trying to save a patient. As reported by the Associated Press, Assad stated in a speech:
When a surgeon in an operating room … cuts and cleans and amputates, and the wound bleeds, do we say to him your hands are stained with blood? Or do we thank him for saving the patient?
The disturbing words come against a backdrop of horrifying violence. Amnesty International has received the names of nearly 10,000 people killed since the government began cracking down on peaceful protestors over a year ago. Although peaceful demonstrations have continued, the unrest has turned increasingly violent. Armed opposition groups, many loosely under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have also carried out attacks – mainly against Syrian security forces.
Abuses by opposition forces have also been reported. These abuses haved included the torture or killing of captured members of the Syrian army, security forces, and pro-government gangs known as shabiha — as well as perceived supporters of the government and suspected informers. In some parts of the country, the situation appears to have evolved into a non-international armed conflict between government and opposition forces.
On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council held a special session to focus on the human rights crisis in Syria. The call for the session was backed by 51 nations, and it came in the aftermath of the recent attack by Syrian forces on the Syrian town of Houla, in which 108 individuals were killed, including 50 children. Sources have told Amnesty International that on May 25th, the residential area of Teldo in Houla came under a barrage of shells, mortars, and rockets, as well as raids.
My colleagues in London and Geneva described the following events in a statement submitted to the Council on the eve of the UN special session:
According to the eye witness, artillery shells and rockets were fired into areas of Houla by the Syrian military from around 8pm on Friday until around midnight, at times falling at the rate of one per minute. Sixty-two of those killed were from the Abd al-Razaq family in Teldo. All had been shot dead, except for a few children whose skulls had been smashed, presumably by rifle butts.
In the aftermath of the assault, the UN Human Rights Council voted to condemn the violence. The vote was 41 in favor of the condemnation, 3 against and 2 abstentions. Uganda and Ecuador abstained, and Russia, China, and Cuba all voted against the measure. Both Russia and China have been consistent obstacles to UN action to stop the violence in Syria. You can urge Russian diplomats to change their position by emailing the Russian government today.
Amnesty International is calling on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo that will stop the transfer of arms and equipment to Syrian government forces. We are also calling on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to freeze the assets abroad of the Syrian President and his senior associates.
Unfortunately, Russia and China have both used their threatened vetoes at the UN Security Council to block such actions. Not only that, but other UN Security Council members have yet to support referring the matter to the ICC. As my colleague Donatella Rovera stated in The Washington Post:
Because there has been no international consensus yet on action, those perpetrating violence and destruction in Syria are comfortable that they can continue to behave as though they are above the law.
Which brings us back to the reported words of Assad — profoundly disturbing talk of blood, amputation, and “saving the patient.”
In a climate of impunity, anything becomes possible.
To make matters worse, local human rights NGOs in recent months have received the names of over 18,000 Syrians who have been detained by Syrian authorities, and they have said that the number of actual detainees could be double. Torture and brutality are all likely experiences for anyone held by the Syria authorities today.
UN: Houla dead executed in cold blood
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/un-houla-dead-executed-cold-blood
The UN human rights office said on Tuesday the global body’s investigators had concluded that children were among almost 90 people summarily executed in the Syrian central town of Houla.
A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said UN monitors found that less than 20 of the 108 people killed died from artillery fire.
Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that most of the other victims were summarily executed in two separate incidents.
Colville said the conclusions of the UN monitors were corroborated by other sources.
He said witnesses blamed pro-government militias for the attacks, but could not be certain over responsibility.
French president expels Syrian ambassador
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/french-president-expels-syrian-ambassador
French President Francois Hollande announced on Tuesday the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador and said Paris would host a new meeting of the Friends of Syria group in July.
The ambassador will be formally notified of the decision, which was taken in response to the weekend massacre of at least 108 people in the central town of Houla, “today (Tuesday) or tomorrow,” Hollande told a press conference.
Ouf : pas de changement donc de ce côté-là.
infosyrie.fr - Le Conseil de sécurité a condamné le gouvernement syrien mais …
►http://www.infosyrie.fr/actualite/le-conseil-de-securite-a-condamne-le-gouvernement-syrien-mais
Les Russes avaient hier encore mis en doute la version présentée par les Occidentaux, mais ils se sont ralliés à la majorité du Conseil après que le général Mood, patron des bérets bleus présents en Syrie, a communiqué ses conclusions, par visioconférence, aux membres du dit Conseil de sécurité : d’après le premier rapport des observateurs présents à Houla, les victimes auraient été tuées soit par des « éclats d’obus » ou « exécutées à bout portant« .
Syrie : les observateurs de l’ONU à Houla au lendemain du massacre - Le Point
►http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/syrie-les-observateurs-de-l-onu-a-houla-au-lendemain-du-massacre-26-05-2012-
Selon l’Observatoire syrien des droits de l’Homme (OSDH), plus de 90 civils, dont 25 enfants, sont morts dans des bombardements depuis vendredi dans la région de Houla, à une trentaine de kilomètres au nord-ouest de Homs.
Exécuter cet assassin, bien sûre ; mais il y a les intérêts et, plus que ce cynisme des nations, ma condescendance : nous sommes face à une guerre de religions. Vous souvenez-vous de l’Edit de Nantes ?... Ils veulent imposer, infliger leurs croyances dans le monde ; mais : quelle branche de ces croyances ?...