If
human rights are to be protected, and the rule of law to prevail, the days of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime are numbered. Until then, the
massacres will continue.
On
May 25th, the Syrian government murdered over 100 people, the
majority women and children, in Houla. Tanks and artillery were used to attack
a civilian population.
There
is a graphic video linked to below showing some of the victims. Please do not
watch the video unless you are prepared to see the bodies of murdered children.
Without
plausibility, the government contends that others are responsible for this mass
murder. Whether done by the military or pro-Assad militia, the intent and
results are the same: brutal suppression of political opposition through
murder.
It
now appears that a similar massacre has taken place at Al-Kubeir.
Unfortunately, pro-regime forces fired at U.N. monitors who went to
investigate, precluding a thorough investigation of what happened and the scope
of the damage inflicted on more civilians.
The
United Nations and many nations are calling for action to both stop these mass
murders and ultimately bring the perpetrators to justice. However, both Russia
and China are backing the Syrian regime at the expense of human rights. As
these countries do not value life or respect the human rights of their own
citizens, one should not be surprised they would place a higher priority on
political gain over protection of Syrian civilians.
If
there is to be intervention, the likely path is arms supplied to the Syrian opposition,
perhaps through Turkey and the Arab world. If he should live, President Assad
will likely end up facing war crimes charges before the International Criminal
Court. The only real issue is how many civilians have to die before justice is
meted out to Assad and his minions.
Recommended
Reading
GRAPHIC Video: Syria Massacre, TYT Network on YouTube (May 29, 2012)
UN chief
condemns latest Syria 'massacre', Al Jazeera (June 7, 2012)
Syria's new
massacre slammed as 'barbarity' at U.N. General Assembly, Al Arabiya
News (June 7, 2012)
Six hours of
slaughter which wiped out a village: Assad's men 'massacred 88 people -
including 22 children - before setting fire to the bodies and dancing as they
burned',
UK Mail Online (June 6, 2012)
100 killed in
new Syria regime 'massacre': opposition, AFP via Google (June 6, 2012)
Syrian
Government denies massacre of 100 people in Al-Kubeir, AFP via AU
Hearld Sun (June 7, 2012)