Another 10 Syrians murdered Friday by Assads troops

MrRelevant · Dec 30, 2011

BEIRUT Clashes erupted in Syria on Friday as hundreds of thousands filled the streets to demonstrate against the government of President Bashar Assad. Activists said at least 10 people were shot dead.

Demonstrators determined to show the strength of their movement to Arab League monitors deployed in hotspots across the country threw rocks at security forces in the Damascus suburb of Douma where troops tear-gassed the chanting crowds.

Five people were shot dead in the city of Hama and five in the city of Deraa in the south.

"Five were martyred today and at least 20 wounded when the Syrian security forces opened fire," the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, referring to Hama.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45824119/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

waltky · May 31, 2012

Could Syrias Assad Face Indictment?...

Is Syrias Bashar al-Assad Guilty of War Crimes?
May 31, 2012 - The images from Houla in Syria had a sickening familiarity: bodies wrapped in white shrouds, lined up in a large pit in the center of town while grieving relatives cried and wailed. In all, a reported 108 people, all victims of last weeks Houla massacre, were being buried, 49 of them children.

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights representative has said only about 20 of the victims were killed by artillery or mortar fire. The rest had been shot in what appear to have been summary executions. Syria has denied its forces had anything to do with the massacre and says the killings were the work of terrorists. The ditch reminded the world of others it has seen - in Nazi Germany, in the former Yugoslavia, in Cambodia, in Vietnam, in Libya and Iraq. In many cases, the atrocities committed there were ruled war crimes. But is what happened in Houla a war crime? If it is, how can Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and others be held accountable?

War crime?

War by its very nature involves the violent taking of life. But there are rules established in what are called the laws of armed conflict. Some of the rules were codified in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The Conventions are considered to be part of international law and are applicable to all armed conflicts worldwide. Cherif Bassiouni is the Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor of Law at DePaul University in Chicago. He has also served on five U.N. Commissions that investigated war crimes and was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the U.N.s Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court.

Basically, the Geneva Conventions and the customary laws of armed conflict are very simple, he said. You cannot use force against non-combatants; you cannot kill or attack civilian populations; you cannot attack Red Cross, hospital, or religious establishments; you cannot torture POWs, said Bassiouni. In this case, quite obviously, when the Bashar al-Assad forces bombarded civilian places, this is considered excessive use of force and, as such, if civilians are killed it is considered a war crime, he added.

Sarah Leah Whitson is the Middle East and North Africa Director with Human Rights Watch in New York. It absolutely does constitute a war crime, she said. Summary executions, executions of detainees, executions period - unprovoked executions, targeted attacks on civilians are indeed war crimes, Whitson said.

Libyan parallel?
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See also:

UN Says Civilian Death Rate in Afghanistan is Unacceptable
May 31, 2012 - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says civilian casualties from the Afghan conflict remain at "unacceptably high levels" despite a 21-percent drop in conflict-related deaths during the first four months of this year.

In a report released Thursday, UNAMA said 2011 marked the fifth year in a row in which civilian casualties increased in Afghanistan. The group said it documented more than 3,000 civilian deaths last year, three-quarters linked to violence by anti-government forces. The continued violence has raised concerns about the ability of Afghan forces to handle security beyond 2014, when most NATO forces are planning to conclude their combat role.

Brookings Institution Foreign Policy Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon says he does not expect a significant decrease in the conflict-related deaths in the near future. "I am just not persuaded that there is any realistic hope that the numbers are going to go down that much in the next two or three years," said O'Hanlon. "I think that unless the Taliban decides to be serious about peace talks, we are probably going to have to hope the numbers just don't get much worse as we carry out a transition to primary Afghan responsibility for security throughout the country."

UNAMA said improvised explosive devices (IED's), used by anti-government forces, were the single largest killer of civilians, accounting for one-third of the deaths. On Wednesday, the group said it had documented 579 civilian deaths for the first four months of 2012, a one-fifth decrease compared to the same time last year. However, it said the region's harsh winter may have contributed to the decrease.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials say explosions killed at least seven police officers on Thursday. A spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar province says a car bombing at a police checkpoint in Argistan killed at least five officers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, which earlier this month announced the start of a spring offensive. Afghan officials say a second explosion at a checkpoint in Jalalabad killed two police officers.

Source
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moon · Jun 1, 2012

Welcome back, Mr. Relevant. None of these murders can be independently verified, I'm given to believe. That includes the recent carnage at Homs. There are now gangs of mercenaries executing ' false flag ' ops all over the place, some with the latest Western armaments and pockets full of dollars. Which sources are we to classify as authentic when even the UN doesn't know ?

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Another 10 Syrians murdered Friday by Assads troops

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