Syria Ignores International Community: HRW
August 10, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) — Syria is clearly ignoring the international community through its continued use of force against civilian protesters, Human Rights Watch said.
The U.N. Security Council last week issued a statement condemning Damascus for the crackdown against demonstrators in the country.
Members of the Arab, Western and European communities have condemned the Syrian regime for its action.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said Syrian President Bashar Assad is ignoring the international community.
“Not only has Syria ignored the Security Council’s demands but it has responded to the international community’s demand to halt the violence by intensifying its bloody crackdown,” she said in a statement.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Assad on Tuesday and noted that Syrian forces had pulled out of the restive city of Hama.
He added, however, that Damascus needed to take concrete steps toward reform. “Promises of reform are not convincing anyone when people die,” he was quoted by Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman as saying.
Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said that Washington was increasing the sanctions pressure on Damascus, adding it was “deeply regrettable” that Assad isn’t listening to the voice of the international community.
Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, in a statement posted via her Twitter account said the Security Council was meeting to discuss Syria. She said the country would be better off without Assad.
“He’s lost his legitimacy,” she stated.
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