UN human rights chief forces to access Syria

According to AP, it reported that The UN human rights chief is forcing Syria">Syrian officials to let observers in to access the rights situation, and is reiterating her concerns the conflict could erupt in civil war. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday also confirmed the government's estimate that nearly 1,000 security forces had been killed in the clashes inside the country.Pillay estimates that more than 4,000 people on all sides have died in the nine-month conflict.

Activists announced that Syria">Syrian security forces fired on anti-government demonstrations across the country on Friday, killing at least 24 people including several children as the regime tries to choke off a 9-month-old uprising.

Some of the worst violence was reported in Homs, a city in central Syria">Syria that has emerged as the epicenter of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.

"The earth was shaking," a Homs resident told The Associated Press by telephone, saying explosions and cracks of gunfire erupted in the early morning. "Armored personnel carriers drove through the streets and opened fire randomly with heavy machine guns."

Despite the relentless bloodshed, Assad has refused to buckle to the pressure to step down and has shown no signs of easing his crackdown. The United Nations estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in the military assault on dissent since March.

Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were hit by stray bullets Friday near government checkpoints in Homs, according to activists. At least two other young teenagers were killed elsewhere, the activists said.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the British-based Syria">Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the 10-year-old was shot as he crossed the street in the Bab Sbaaa neighborhood. The 12-year-old was struck as he walked in a crowd exiting a mosque, Abdul-Rahman said.

Anti-government demonstrations traditionally peak after Friday's midday prayers, although witnesses say there appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent any gatherings this week. Troops were deployed heavily and, in many cases, locked down areas before prayers even began.

Security forces also reportedly fired on protests in the Damascus suburbs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Idlbi province near Turkey and elsewhere.

In the southern town of Daraa, activists said telephone and Internet lines were cut.

An activist coalition called the Local Coordinating Committees said up to 35 were killed Friday, most of them in Homs. The Britain-based Observatory had a death count of 24. Casualty tolls are difficult to compile in Syria">Syria, where the government has prevented independent reporting and where violence often prevents activists from counting the dead.

Syria">Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from moving freely. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.

"We are having tensions with Syria">Syria," Yazici said. "Of course, our trade is important but our stance based on humanitarian values is above everything."


(2011-12-10/taiwannews)