SYRIA: NGOs appeal to UN General Assembly to condemn violence

Summary: ISHR has made a joint appeal, together with 28 other international NGOs, calling on the UN General Assembly to condemn the violence in Syria.

ISHR has made a joint appeal, together with 28 other international NGOs, calling on the UN General Assembly to play its part, by making clear that the world body will no longer stay silent while Syrians are the victims of government-orchestrated violence and human rights violations.

The appeal follows the failure of the Security Council to address the violence exerted by Syria's security forces against the Syrian people.

It calls on the General Assembly to urgently adopt a resolution demanding that the Syrian government immediately halt all unlawful use of lethal and excessive force against demonstrators, end the arbitrary arrest and torture of detainees, account for all those who have been subject to enforced disappearances, cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council, allow the unrestricted deployment of human rights monitors, and grant access to humanitarian organizations and independent journalists.

According to the UN, since March, more than 3,000 people have been killed, including at least 187 children, while thousands more have been arrested, detained, forcibly disappeared, and tortured.

On October 4, after seven months of near complete inaction, Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution calling on Syria to end the violence against its citizens. India, Brazil, and South Africa, while claiming to be deeply concerned with the plight of the Syrian people, abstained from the vote.

It is incumbent upon the General Assembly to take action where the Security Council has failed to do so.

Further Information

• Read the full joint appeal issued to all Member States of the UN General Assembly.
• Visit ISHR's website
• SYRIA: Concerns over “rampant torture” (7 October 2011)
• SYRIA: New report indicates over 5,000 deaths since March, including 148 children (Avvaz, 22 September 2011)
• SYRIA: Death toll tops 2,700, including 100 children (20 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Boy, 12, shot dead during funeral procession (13 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: President of HRC appoints investigative commission to probe human rights violations (12 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Teen killed as protesters call for international protection (9 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Amnesty report shows 88 civilians killed in detention, including 10 children (31 August 2011) 
• SYRIA: A child's killing freeze-frames tragedy (17 August 2011) 
• SYRIA: Over 70 children killed since March (5 August 2011)
• SYRIA: Defectors describe orders to shoot unarmed protesters (18 July 2011)  
• SYRIA: Second teenager tortured to death (16 June 2011) 
• SYRIA: Soldier 'ordered to fire' on peaceful protesters (10 June 2011)
• More on children's rights in Syria