Rights group: More than 400 killed in Syria
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 26, 2011 -- Updated 1427 GMT (2227 HKT)
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Obama mulls next steps in Syria
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Rights group lists names of 413 people killed and cites three
unidentified bodies
* NEW: Sarkozy says no action will be taken without a U.N. Security Council
resolution
* Witness: Bodies were buried discreetly because people were afraid to walk
through the town of Jableh
* The Syrian government says it is cracking down on "armed criminal groups"
(CNN) -- More than 400 people have been killed in Syria across several weeks as
the government has cracked down on protesters seeking reform, a human rights
group in the country said Tuesday.
The Syrian Human Rights Information Link reported at least 416 people have died
since March 18 in incidents linked to the violence. The group named 413 of
those killed and cited three unidentified bodies. While the vast majority are
apparently civilians, the group's list describes a few of the dead as members
of the army or police.
The U.N. Security Council was expected to focus on Syria Tuesday as it
considers a statement condemning the violence.
The United Nations has said it has information that 76 people were killed last
week on Friday alone, apparently during peaceful marches, and that the death
toll from that day could be much higher.
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CNN cannot independently confirm death tolls and witness accounts of the bloody
crackdown. The Syrian government has not granted CNN access to the country.
In state-run media, President Bashar al-Assad's regime has described the
protesters as "armed criminal groups" and said its soldiers and police were
working to stop them. The government has discussed the burials of "martyrs"
killed by those groups.
After witnesses told CNN Monday about thousands of troops and police entering
the city of Daraa -- where the uprising began -- and firing indiscriminately,
killing people in the streets, the Syrian government later insisted that the
citizens of Daraa had asked for the troops to be sent in to stop "terrorist"
groups.
On Tuesday, a witness in the western Syrian city of Jableh said security forces
had set up checkpoints and were inspecting identification papers and arresting
people. Businesses and schools in Jableh were closed Tuesday, the witness said.
The witness said the bodies of 13 people who died Sunday were discreetly taken
to their resting places because people were afraid to walk in the town. Another
human rights group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has said at least
13 civilians were killed in Jableh by gunfire from security forces on Sunday.
In the Damascus suburb of Douma, one witness compared the city to a "prison."
Witnesses said security forces were arresting people throughout the city,
including three hospital doctors.
A witness in Douma said Tuesday that security forces have set up sandbag
barricades around and inside the city. Checkpoints around the city were being
manned with heavy machine guns, while those inside the city are manned by
lighter weapons, the witness said.
He said shops were closed and parents are afraid to send their children to
school.
A U.N. diplomat said a draft Security Council statement sponsored by France,
Portugal and the United Kingdom condemned the violence and called for
restraint. It also supported Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for an
independent investigation on the matter.
A final statement could be agreed upon by Tuesday, the diplomat said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday "the situation in Syria is
unacceptable." He added that -- as has been the case for the Ivory Coast and
Libya -- "nothing will happen without a resolution from the Security Council."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned "any violence and killings
perpetuated by Syrian security forces."
"This violent repression must stop," Hague said in a statement. "President
Assad should order his authorities to show restraint and to respond to the
legitimate demands of his people with immediate and genuine reform, not with
brutal repression."
Fawaz Gerges, an analyst on the region with the London School of Economics,
said Tuesday the response of the international community "is very important in
terms of the legitimacy, in terms of the isolation of the Syrian regime. But
the reality is events in Syria will determine what will happen and the end
results. Syrians will determine whether the regime stays or goes."
"Obviously the regime has decided to crush the protesters, to silence the
opposition," Gerges added. Assad is "using now massive force in order to break
the will of the protesters. But even if he wins the first round, the situation
is far from over... The reality is President Assad will emerge as a much
weakened president after his particular confrontation because he has lost much
legitimacy and authority inside Syria."
The Syrian protests -- part of a wave of uprisings in the Arab world -- began
in Daraa last month following a violent crackdown by security forces on
peaceful demonstrators protesting the arrests of youths who scribbled
anti-government graffiti. Protesters have asked for freedom and regime reform,
and public discontent with al-Assad's government has mounted.
Activists also want the easing of the ruling Baath Party's power and a law that
would permit the establishment of independent political parties.
The United States is preparing new sanctions against members of al-Assad's
regime who are overseeing the violent crackdown, according to several senior
U.S. officials with knowledge of the action. A new Treasury Department
executive order targeting senior officials accused of human rights abuses would
involve an asset freeze and travel ban, as well as prohibiting them from doing
business in the United States.
"The Syrian people's call for freedom of expression, association, peaceful
assembly and the ability to freely choose their leaders must be heard," Tommy
Vietor, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement
Monday.
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement Monday urging U.S. citizens
to defer any travel to Syria.
"U.S. citizens in Syria are advised to depart while commercial transportation
is readily available," the statement said. The department also ordered all
eligible family members of U.S. government employees as well as certain
non-emergency personnel to depart Syria.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Rima Maktabi, Elise Labott, Amir Ahmed and Raja Razek
contributed to this report.
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