Arab League must suspend Syria, says Human Rights Watch

Source: Reuters

Abuses by Assad regime against civilians in Homs are crimes against humanity, says rights group

Reuters in Beirut | Friday November 11 2011 08.55 GMT

Syrian government forces have carried out crimes against humanity as they try to crush opposition to Bashar al-Assad in Homs, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a report released on Friday, the group urged Arab League delegates meeting on Saturday to suspend Syria from their organisation, ask the UN to impose sanctions on individuals responsible, and refer Syria to the international criminal court.

"The systematic nature of abuses against civilians in Homs by Syrian government forces, including torture and unlawful killings, constitute crimes against humanity," the group said in a statement accompanying the report.

HRW said Syrian security forces had killed at least 104 people in Homs since 2 November, when the Syrian government agreed an Arab League plan aimed at ending the violence and starting a dialogue with Assad's opponents.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/11/arab-league-suspend-syria-hrw

The watchdog group Human Rights Watch on Friday urged the Arab League to suspend Syria's membership, and called on the body to ask the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and sanctions against responsible individuals. It also called for the League to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, saying former detainees reported torture including security forces' use of heated metal rods, electric shocks and stress positions.

"The systematic nature of abuses against civilians in Homs by Syrian government forces, including torture and unlawful killings, indicate that crimes against humanity have been committed," HRW said in its 63-page report.

In their latest assault on the city, it said the forces had killed at least another 104 people since last Wednesday, the day that Assad's government agreed to an Arab League initiative to end the violence. On Friday, at least nine people were killed across the country, activists told Al Jazeera, as regular weekly anti-government protests got underway.

Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, told the Security Council on Wednesday that an increasing number of Syrian soldiers are defecting, raising the risk of a Libya-style civil war. "Where basic human rights are trampled and peaceful demands for change met by brutal violence, people are eventually compelled to have recourse to rebellion against tyranny and oppression," she said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011111185740555474.html

Seriously, Syria is no longer part of the club. Where is the direct line between that act and lives being saved?

nailing the U.S. about crimes against humanity?

Just can't help but ask. x(

Do you think they have committed crimes against humanity?

Do you think there should be any consequences for the Syrian government's actions as outlined in the HRW report?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/amnesty-international-hum_n_1009403.html

Not to distract from the fact that the OP is about Syria, not about the US.