Why Is Russia Keeping the U.N. from Condemning Syria?

[JBeukema]

On a day in which Syria shelled the city of Homs as part of an escalated crackdown on protesters and withdrew its controversial bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, Russia once again rejected a British-led effort to persuade the U.N. Security Council to condemn the Syrian regime's use of violence

 

[hipeter924]

Putin likes dictatorship, who knew.

 

[waltky]

Assad using tanks against protesters...

Syria: Restive towns 'surrounded' by tanks
29 May 2011 - Amateur images and videos are often the only news that emerges from Syrian cities

Syrian troops have attacked two towns north of the capital Damascus, as they continue a crackdown against anti-government protests, reports say. Witnesses said the troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, surrounded Rastan and Talbisa early on Sunday and searched houses for protesters. Anti-government activists said five people were killed and many wounded. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. Syria has banned foreign journalists, making it difficult to verify eyewitness accounts. Syrian authorities insist they are pursuing "armed terrorist gangs".

The two towns attacked on Sunday are on the main road north out of Homs, the site of some of the largest demonstrations in recent weeks. Tanks encircled Rastan and troops began firing heavy machine-guns in the streets of the town, an eyewitness told Reuters news agency. Scores of tanks were used, with helicopters flying overhead - as security forces broke into houses arresting people. Residents of both towns said water, electricity and communications were cut early on Sunday as the troops and tanks moved in. The authorities have said nothing about the reported attacks, says the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon.

Both Rastan and Talbisa have been caught up in the protests since March, and dissent has continued there despite harsh repression, says our correspondent. The towns were the scene of large protests demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Opposition sources report ongoing demonstrations and vigils, often at night, in many parts of the country. They also say security forces have continued to hunt down and detain activists in towns and cities throughout Syria.

BBC News - Syria: Restive towns 'surrounded' by tanks

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Refugees' tales of brutality
18 May 2011 - Thousands of Syrian refugees have fled into northern Lebanon bringing with them tales of brutality by Syrian security forces in the town of Tal Kalakh, the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones reports.

Thousands of Syrian refugees have fled their homes and are now seeking sanctuary in northern Lebanon. They say life in the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh has become intolerable because of the violence of the Syrian army and its armed supporters. "It was raining bullets so we fled immediately," said one middle-aged woman who - like all the refugees - did not want to give her name.

She described how one of her relatives, having started the journey across the border, turned back in order to get her cow. "She was shot in the head and she was killed." Another relative, an aunt, was shot in the leg, she said. The injured woman lay stranded on the ground until a Lebanese soldier tried to rescue her. He too was injured as he dragged her to safety. "We came through the mountains and rocky terrain," said one man who had made it out.

"We crawled for five hours because of snipers and tanks that had circled Tal Kalakh. It was very hard to cross." As he spoke he overlooked a patch of open ground that led to Syria. There was no sign of human activity on the Syrian side of the border.

Beaten with sticks

 

[waltky]

Granny says don't waste the time - send in Navy Seal team 6 after him...

US Mulls War Crimes Charges Against Syrian President
June 18, 2011 - The United States says is it considering if war crimes charges can be brought against Syria's president as part of a larger diplomatic effort to get his government to end its crackdown on dissent.

In a telephone conference with reporters Friday, two senior White House officials said the U.S. is also considering economic sanctions against Syria's oil and gas sectors. The officials said the U.S. is stepping up efforts with its allies as well as regional opposition figures to put pressure Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. In a column in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that with his crackdown, Assad is "placing himself and his regime on the wrong side of history." She said Syria's brutality against its people has "shattered his claims to be a reformer."

Clinton also spoke with her Russian counterpart trying to get Russia on board with a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the violence against protesters. Russia and China have so far opposed efforts to draft a resolution. The diplomatic wrangling comes as Syrian security forces Friday shot and killed at least 18 more anti-government protesters. Activists and witnesses say security forces used live ammunition against protesters who poured into the streets with renewed calls for President Assad's resignation. Western news reports say at least five of the deaths occurred in the flashpoint city of Homs and two in the eastern town of Deir el-Zour. At least one teenager is among those killed. Anti-government rallies were also under way in other cities, including Daraa, Latakia and near the capital, Damascus.

The unrest spilled over into neighboring Lebanon on Friday, where two people were killed following a protest against Assad's government. Residents from a Sunni Muslim neighborhood in the city of Tripoli clashed with those from a neighborhood inhabited by members of the Shi'ite Alawite sect. Assad's family is part of the sect. Earlier Friday, security forces mounted new assaults in the country's restive northwest, sending tanks and troops into two more cities. Rights activists and witnesses say the military sent large numbers of soldiers into Maaret al-Numaan, a city that is on the highway linking the capital and the large city of Aleppo. In addition, the security forces moved into the town of Khan Sheikhun.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials say the number of Syrians who have crossed the border to flee from the unrest is nearing 10,000. The al-Jazeera television network said Friday that some Syrians who have gathered near the Turkish border also demonstrated against President Assad. World powers are increasingly condemning the crackdown. On Friday, French officials voiced support for additional European Union sanctions on President Assad's government. On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Syrian president to "stop killing people" and negotiate with the protesters "before it's too late." Rights activists and witnesses say more than 1,300 civilians and 340 government troops have been killed since mid-March.

Source

See also:

Casualties Mount as Syrian Protests, Crackdown Intensify
June 17, 2011 - Thousands of Syrians turned out in over a dozen towns and cities Friday to protest the government’s ongoing crackdown on the country’s three month old protest movement. The protests come as government security forces continue operations on northern towns and in villages near the Turkish border. More than a dozen protesters are reported dead.

Witnesses say Syrian security forces fired on crowds of protesters Friday in the country’s third largest city of Homs, as they shouted slogans against the government. Video on Arab satellite channels showed demonstrators taking cover on a sidestreet amid heavy gunfire.

News agencies reported casualties after security forces fired on protesters in the coastal city of Banias. Other shootings took place in the desert town of Deir al-Zor and the southern city of Daraa.

Syrian Army tanks also deployed in several small villages close to the Turkish border Friday, while continuing a siege of Maaret al-Numan, which straddles the main highway between Damascus and Aleppo. Witnesses told Arab satellite channels that residents of many border towns have fled and that government snipers are posted on roof tops.

Source

 

[Ringel05]

Why Is Russia Keeping the U.N. from Condemning Syria?

Because Russia and Syria are allies and trading partners. Can I get a "Duh" moment here?

 

[waltky]

Assad still killin' his people...

Syrian forces gun down 32 in intensifying crackdown
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 - ‘DOWN BASHAR AL-ASSAD’:Hundreds of thousands continued to take to the streets as demonstrations grew despite the deaths of about 1,400 protesters since March

Syrian forces killed at least 32 civilians on Friday, including 23 in the capital Damascus, in an intensifying crackdown on protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. It was the highest death toll in the central neighborhoods of Damascus since the uprising erupted four months ago in the southern Hauran Plain near Syria’s border with Jordan. “Tens of thousands of Damascenes took to the streets in the main districts for the first time today, that is why the regime resorted to more killings,” one activist said by telephone from Damascus. He declined to be named for fear of being arrested.

The killings prompted the opposition to cancel their planned National Salvation conference in Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus yesterday after security forces killed 14 protesters outside a wedding hall where the conference had been due to take place, opposition leader Walid al-Bunni said. “Secret police also threatened the owner of the wedding hall. We decided to cancel the meeting to save lives,” Bunni said by telephone from Damascus. Bunni said prominent opposition figures and activists would still hold a separate conference in Istanbul yesterday. The rest of those killed in Damasacus were in Barzeh, where one protester had died, and in the Rukn al-Din quarter of the city, where security forces fired protesters killing eight people. Two protesters were killed in the southern suburb of Qadam, the Local Coordination Committees said.

Assad, facing the greatest challenge to 40 years of Baath Party rule, has sought to crush demonstrations that broke out in March, but although rights groups say about 1,400 civilians have been killed, the protests have grown. “These are the biggest demonstrations so far. It is a clear challenge to the authorities, especially when we see all these numbers coming out from Damascus for the first time,” said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists and witnesses said police fired live ammunition and teargas in the capital Damascus and suburbs. They killed four in the southern city of Deraa, the cradle of the uprising. Three protesters were shot dead in Idlib Province, near the Turkish border, where troops and tanks have attacked villages, the witnesses and activists said. Two people were also killed in the city of Homs. A witness in the Rukn al-Din district of Damascus said hundreds of young men wearing white masks resisted security forces with sticks and stones.

“Down, down Bashar al-Assad”, they chanted. In the city of Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre by the military, live video footage filmed by residents showed a huge crowd in the main Orontos Square shouting “the people want the overthrow of the regime.” At least 350,000 people demonstrated in the eastern province of Deir al Zor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian forces shot dead two pro-democracy protesters there on Thursday, residents said. Assad, from Syria’s Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Islam, is struggling to put down widening demonstrations in outlying rural and tribal regions, as well as Damascus suburbs and cities such as Hama and Homs.

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[CitizenPained]

Because Russia and Syria are part of the same ideological voting bloc. Communist countries and Muslim countries have been allied for decades.