Human rights office says most egregious reports concern use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians
Reuters
The Guardian, Thursday 16 June 2011
"Syria's security forces have used executions, mass arrests and torture to repress pro-democracy protests, the UN human rights office said in a report that could add to calls for a stronger global response. [No kidding!!]
Entire towns have been besieged, including Deraa, preventing civilians from fleeing and depriving many of food supplies and access to medical care, especially the wounded, it said.
More than 1,100 people are believed to have been killed, many of them unarmed civilians, and up to 10,000 detained since mid-March. The main activist group organising protests said on Sunday the crackdown has killed 1,300 civilians.
"The mounting casualty rate among civilians is alarming," said Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for rights, in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "I am gravely concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crises."
In a report to the 47-member forum, her office said it had received numerous allegations, including "the excessive use of force in quelling demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, summary executions, torture" and a clampdown on assembly and expression.
"The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians," the report said.
Helicopter gunships were reported to have been used during an assault on Jisr Al-Shughour, driving more than 7,000 Syrians into Turkey, it said......"
Reuters
The Guardian, Thursday 16 June 2011
"Syria's security forces have used executions, mass arrests and torture to repress pro-democracy protests, the UN human rights office said in a report that could add to calls for a stronger global response. [No kidding!!]
Entire towns have been besieged, including Deraa, preventing civilians from fleeing and depriving many of food supplies and access to medical care, especially the wounded, it said.
More than 1,100 people are believed to have been killed, many of them unarmed civilians, and up to 10,000 detained since mid-March. The main activist group organising protests said on Sunday the crackdown has killed 1,300 civilians.
"The mounting casualty rate among civilians is alarming," said Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for rights, in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "I am gravely concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crises."
In a report to the 47-member forum, her office said it had received numerous allegations, including "the excessive use of force in quelling demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, summary executions, torture" and a clampdown on assembly and expression.
"The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians," the report said.
Helicopter gunships were reported to have been used during an assault on Jisr Al-Shughour, driving more than 7,000 Syrians into Turkey, it said......"
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