(Washington Post) Editorial - Based on interviews with more than 50 residents and a review of dozens of videos, Human Rights Watch concluded that at least 418 people have been killed in Daraa and its surrounding province in southwestern Syria, where mass protests first erupted on March 18, and that the regime's "abuses qualify as crimes against humanity." Two of the witnesses interviewed were among thousands detained in Daraa's soccer stadium on May 1 when, they said, security forces arbitrarily selected a group of more than 20 young men, lined them up and gunned them down. Other witnesses described an incident in which several soldiers who refused to shoot at protesters were themselves shot and killed. U.S. policy, restated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, remains a "hope" that "the Syrian government will end the brutality and begin a transition to real democracy." Ms. Clinton ought to read the Human Rights Watch report. No one who does so could propose such an outcome with a straight face.
2011-06-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive