Secular Café: Atrocities in Syria

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Atrocities in Syria May 31st 2012, 17:20 I suppose everyone is aware of the frightful massacre that occurred in Houla. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18233934 Quote: The village of Taldou, near the town of Houla in Syria's Homs province was the scene of one of the worst massacres in the country's 14-month-long uprising on Friday. United Nations observers on the ground have confirmed that at least 108 people were killed, including 49 children and 34 women. Some were killed by shell fire, but the majority appear to have been shot or stabbed at close range... ...The picture being pieced together by activists, survivors and the limited number of international journalists and human rights organisations in Syria is of an attack that began with the army shelling the town and ended with militiamen killing people house-by-house late into the night. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said initial investigations suggest the majority of the victims were "summarily executed in two separate incidents" while fewer then 20 were killed by artillery or shell fire... ...Activists and eyewitnesses say the Syrian army shelled the town, reportedly at first with tank fire then with mortars, in a sustained bombardment that lasted at least two hours. This tallies with UN accounts of tank and mortar shells in civilian areas. The UN Security Council issued a statement saying that "such outrageous use of force against civilian population constitutes a violation of applicable international law"... ...according to activists and eyewitnesses interviewed by the BBC, other media and human rights groups, army shelling paved the way for a concerted ground attack by the Alawite-dominated pro-government militia, the shabiha. Their reports suggest that men from the shabiha entered people's houses in army fatigues and either cut their throats or shot them in the head from approximately 16:00 to 01:00 on Saturday morning. The Syrian regime denies all responsibility. So what can be done to help the tortured people of Syria? Bugger all, it would seem. Russia and China are cynically backing their client state against the outrage of the world and blocking any possibility of effective UN action. It's almost back to the Cold War.

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