Intense Fighting Rocks Syrian Capital - Voice of America

Syrian security forces have clashed with rebels in an upscale area of Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in the worst gunbattles the tightly-controlled city has seen since the start of the country's year-long uprising.

Note: VOA has revised its figures based on information complied by UNOSAT via death toll figures from Syrianshuhada.com and the Violations Documenting Center. This change reflects a shift in the numbers. Because of the difficulty of monitoring and reporting, these numbers can not be independently verified or confirmed. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said Monday's fighting in the Mazzeh district wounded 18 government soldiers. The Observatory described the fighting as "the most violent of its kind and closest to security centers in Damascus since the revolution began."

The state-run news agency SANA said the violence broke out when security forces stormed an apartment used as a hideout by what it called an "armed terrorist" group in Mazzeh, killing two "terrorists" and arresting a third.

Syrian authorities claim the opposition is made up of terrorist gangs carrying out a foreign conspiracy to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Also Monday, Reuters reported dozens of government tanks stormed the eastern city of Deir al-Zor to seize major districts held by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

Arab League mission

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan addresses media (March 13, 2012 file photo)On the diplomatic front, a mission sent by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on a monitoring operation to end the bloodshed.  Annan is a former United Nations secretary-general.

Aid groups have limited access to Syria, but a group of technical experts was recently allowed into the country to evaluate humanitarian needs among the civilian population.  Staff from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations have joined Syrian government officials on a tour of 15 cities.

Anniversary march

Syrian security forces on Sunday broke up a rally attended by hundreds of people in Damascus marking the first anniversary of anti-government protests. Police arrested several prominent opposition leaders. Government forces also prevented anniversary marches in other cities.

A car bomb outside a government security building in the northern city of Aleppo Sunday killed two and wounded 30.

The United Nations says at least 8,000 people have been killed in the Assad government's violent crackdown on the revolt, which began with peaceful protests and became increasingly militarized as army defectors attacked pro-Assad troops who assaulted civilians.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

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Intense Fighting Rocks Syrian Capital - Voice of America

Syrian security forces have clashed with rebels in an upscale area of Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in the worst gunbattles the tightly-controlled city has seen since the start of the country's year-long uprising.

Note: VOA has revised its figures based on information complied by UNOSAT via death toll figures from Syrianshuhada.com and the Violations Documenting Center. This change reflects a shift in the numbers. Because of the difficulty of monitoring and reporting, these numbers can not be independently verified or confirmed. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said Monday's fighting in the Mazzeh district wounded 18 government soldiers. The Observatory described the fighting as "the most violent of its kind and closest to security centers in Damascus since the revolution began."

The state-run news agency SANA said the violence broke out when security forces stormed an apartment used as a hideout by what it called an "armed terrorist" group in Mazzeh, killing two "terrorists" and arresting a third.

Syrian authorities claim the opposition is made up of terrorist gangs carrying out a foreign conspiracy to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Also Monday, Reuters reported dozens of government tanks stormed the eastern city of Deir al-Zor to seize major districts held by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

Arab League mission

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan addresses media (March 13, 2012 file photo)On the diplomatic front, a mission sent by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on a monitoring operation to end the bloodshed.  Annan is a former United Nations secretary-general.

Aid groups have limited access to Syria, but a group of technical experts was recently allowed into the country to evaluate humanitarian needs among the civilian population.  Staff from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations have joined Syrian government officials on a tour of 15 cities.

Anniversary march

Syrian security forces on Sunday broke up a rally attended by hundreds of people in Damascus marking the first anniversary of anti-government protests. Police arrested several prominent opposition leaders. Government forces also prevented anniversary marches in other cities.

A car bomb outside a government security building in the northern city of Aleppo Sunday killed two and wounded 30.

The United Nations says at least 8,000 people have been killed in the Assad government's violent crackdown on the revolt, which began with peaceful protests and became increasingly militarized as army defectors attacked pro-Assad troops who assaulted civilians.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

View the original article here

Intense Fighting Rocks Syrian Capital - Voice of America

Syrian security forces have clashed with rebels in an upscale area of Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in the worst gunbattles the tightly-controlled city has seen since the start of the country's year-long uprising.

Note: VOA has revised its figures based on information complied by UNOSAT via death toll figures from Syrianshuhada.com and the Violations Documenting Center. This change reflects a shift in the numbers. Because of the difficulty of monitoring and reporting, these numbers can not be independently verified or confirmed. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said Monday's fighting in the Mazzeh district wounded 18 government soldiers. The Observatory described the fighting as "the most violent of its kind and closest to security centers in Damascus since the revolution began."

The state-run news agency SANA said the violence broke out when security forces stormed an apartment used as a hideout by what it called an "armed terrorist" group in Mazzeh, killing two "terrorists" and arresting a third.

Syrian authorities claim the opposition is made up of terrorist gangs carrying out a foreign conspiracy to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Also Monday, Reuters reported dozens of government tanks stormed the eastern city of Deir al-Zor to seize major districts held by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

Arab League mission

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan addresses media (March 13, 2012 file photo)On the diplomatic front, a mission sent by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on a monitoring operation to end the bloodshed.  Annan is a former United Nations secretary-general.

Aid groups have limited access to Syria, but a group of technical experts was recently allowed into the country to evaluate humanitarian needs among the civilian population.  Staff from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations have joined Syrian government officials on a tour of 15 cities.

Anniversary march

Syrian security forces on Sunday broke up a rally attended by hundreds of people in Damascus marking the first anniversary of anti-government protests. Police arrested several prominent opposition leaders. Government forces also prevented anniversary marches in other cities.

A car bomb outside a government security building in the northern city of Aleppo Sunday killed two and wounded 30.

The United Nations says at least 8,000 people have been killed in the Assad government's violent crackdown on the revolt, which began with peaceful protests and became increasingly militarized as army defectors attacked pro-Assad troops who assaulted civilians.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

View the original article here

Amnesty says Syrian violence worse than reported - CBC.ca

The level of violence in Syria a year into the uprising may be far worse than the outside world knows, an Amnesty International report suggests.

The organization says what is going on in Syrian prisons and interrogation rooms is even more brutal, the CBC's Carolyn Dunn reports.

The human rights organization interviewed dozens of Syrians who fled the violence for Jordan. In relative safety, 19 of them told their accounts of torture in detention.

London-based Amnesty has compiled the stories into the report "I Wanted to Die."

Many of the detainees say they were stripped to their underwear and beaten with everything from fists to whips.

The worst was saved for prisoner interrogations. Many said they were bent into the middle of a tire, suspended and beaten. Other tortures included electrocution and sexual assault.

Amnesty says its documentation of systemic torture by Syrian security forces is more evidence of crimes against humanity alleged by the United Nations.

'We must obtain humanitarian corridors, and for that we must unblock the Russian veto and Chinese veto.'—French President Nicolas Sarkozy

It is urging that the situation in Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court. That is unlikely in the near future, because the international community remains split on the best course of action.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is acting like a murderer and should be sent to the international court.

With diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria faltering, the French leader urged humanitarian corridors to allow refugees out and aid into the country.

"We must obtain humanitarian corridors, and for that we must unblock the Russian veto and Chinese veto" at the UN Security Council, Sarkozy told Europe-1 radio.

UN Security Council members are meeting to decide what to do next to try to stop the violence.

Since protesters first took to the streets in Syria one year ago to call for political reform, security forces have cracked down hard, deploying snipers, troops and pro-government thugs to quash all signs of dissent.

As the protests have spread, and some in the opposition have taken up arms to protect themselves and attack government troops, Syria's uprising has evolved into one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring. The UN says more than 7,500 people, most of them peaceful demonstrators, have been killed.

"Torture and other ill treatment in Syria form part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, carried out in an organized manner and as part of state policy, and therefore amount to crimes against humanity," Amnesty said.

The group said it has documented 276 cases of death in detention since the uprising's start. Given the large number of people who have been detained, however, the number of those killed is likely much higher, it says.

The report also accuses armed opposition groups of kidnapping and killing people believed to be associated with the regime — actions it condemns.

Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment. The government blames the uprising on armed extremists acting out a foreign conspiracy.

With files from The Associated Press

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