UN rights chief: Syria massacres must spur world action

[oberliner]

GENEVA (AFP) -- UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday called for urgent international action to halt the bloodshed in Syria following reports of recent massacres carried out by Syrian troops and their allies.

Several reported mass killings in and around the Mediterranean Syrian city of Banias "should spur the international community to act to find a solution to the conflict, and to ensure those responsible for serious human rights violations are made to account for their crimes," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

Rights monitors say at least 62 civilians, including 14 children, were killed in an assault on a Sunni neighborhood of Banias earlier this month, after at least 50 people were killed in the nearby village of Bayda.

"I am appalled at the apparent killing of women, children and men in the village of al-Bayda, and possibly elsewhere in the Baniyas area, which seem to indicate a campaign targeting specific communities perceived to be supportive of the opposition," Pillay said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594258

[DCKit]

1. He would be wrong. nt

[oberliner]

2. Who is "he"?

If you are talking about Navi Pillay, she is female.

[DCKit]

3. Picky, picky, just saw her on the news tonight.

Despite that, there's no good side in this mess - dictator or AQ. Not much of a choice.

[pampango]

8. Not everyone who opposes the "dictator" is "AQ".

You might be surprised that there are many Syrians who do not want to live under a dictator or a theocracy. Kind of like Americans, Europeans, Canadians - well, kind of like everyone else.

While I think we should not provide the opposition with weapons (too many long term problems associated with that), I realize that weakens the non-AQ opposition as a fighting force, motivates some of them to join the faction that does have access to weapons and increases the profile of the jihadist faction of the opposition as a result.

Since Assad is a smart guy, this was part of his long term scenario. If he could get past the peaceful demonstration phase and can militarize the crisis, he stands a good chance of holding on to his hereditary rule. He has a strong army which is likely to prevail if things degenerate into a civil war which has happened. And as a civil war then drags on the opposition will be increasingly radicalized. The 'bad actors' (the most violent) will become more relevant as peaceful protest and negotiations become impossible. Voila! Assad's protestation that he has been using since the protests began that it is "Me or the terrorists" which was ludicrous at the beginning, magically becomes more and more accurate.

The fact is that Assad is a nasty piece of work who will destroy Syria in order to remain in power. The fact is that there are many Syrians who do not want to live under a dictator or a theocracy. The fact is that the nasty side of the opposition gains strength as the civil war goes on. The fact is that there is little we can do about any of this other than provide aid to refugees - anything else will make a terrible situation for the Syrian people even worse.

Those are the facts on which we should base our policy - which should be non-intervention. What we should not do is start with a policy that we want - non-intervention - and then create "facts" (both sides are equally bad and anyone who opposes Assad is a terrorist) that support our desired policy. That's what republicans do. Want to invade Iraq - create the necessary 'facts'; want to cut taxes for the rich - create the necessary 'facts'; don't like EPA or the existence of global warming, create the necessary 'facts', etc., etc., etc.

I get the sense that Obama is living in a 'fact-based' world and trying to figure out what to do in Syria. McCain and other republicans live in a 'fact-free' world (crowded with republicans on a variety of issues) where they know the policy they want - send in the bombers - and will create the 'facts' they need to achieve their policy.

[David__77]

4. The action should be food and medical aid.

The foreign countries may work to provide food and medical aid to the people impacted by the Syrian internal war. And also to host those that may be refugees of that war.

[oberliner]

6. No war crimes investigation?

Does international law mean nothing to you?

[Posteritatis]

21. In his case it actually generally doesn't, no. (nt)

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Let's just do nothing

Now that's a plan I can support.

[oberliner]

7. The UN should do nothing?

That seems odd.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Should the UN do nothing?

Yes.

IMO, outside interference in the Middle East has done more harm than good and has generated extreme hatred against the United States. It's time to let Israel fight their own battles on their own dime.

[oberliner]

10. Israel? This is about the bloodshed in Syria

Did you not read the OP?

The UN Human Rights director is asking for action to address the bloodshed there.

“The increasingly brutal nature of the conflict makes international efforts to halt the bloodshed imperative,” Ms. Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement in Geneva.

[Cali_Democrat]

11. Yes

Israel.

The United States should do nothing.

[oberliner]

12. This article isn't about whether the US should do anything

It's about the UN.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. And when the UN "intervened" against Iraq in the early 1990's.....

who did most of the heavy lifting? Any intervention by the UN will be seen as a US intervention.

It's time for a new, fresh approach where the US does nothing.

[oberliner]

15. What about the Rwandan genocide?

That seemed to be (partially) the result of the "fresh approach" of doing nothing.

[Cali_Democrat]

17. It's unfortunate, but...

...shit happens.

We can't be world policeman. It actually ends up doing more harm than good and it costs too much.

[Posteritatis]

19. That was the US actively preventing the UN from doing something. (nt)

[11 Bravo]

14. Fine, let the world handle this one. Our people deserve a chance to stand down for a while.

[oberliner]

16. Here's hoping someone does something

The stories are pretty heartbreaking.

[11 Bravo]

18. Agreed, the stories are devastating, but it can't always be on us to come to the rescue.

[oberliner]

20. The international community can

The UN exists in part to address these situations.