Syrian human rights activists have called on South Africa to support a UN Security Council resolution condemning the use of violence against peaceful protesters in the strife-torn country.
Iyas Maleh and a grouping of other civil society supporters addressed the media in Johannesburg on Thursday, where they spoke out against the human rights abuses carried out by Syrian authorities.
Maleh explained that although transformation and a transparent government for Syrians are the ultimate goals, a dialogue between the government and opposition will not happen while killings are taking place.
“Like Egyptians and Tunisians, the Syrian people are determined to push for basic liberties at home. We hope that South Africa will join international efforts to lessen the human and economic costs of our struggle,” Maleh said.
Human Rights Watch has reported a total of 1 350 killings of civilians since peaceful protests for a democratic government began on March 15.
Maleh, son of a prominent lawyer Haitham Maleh and President of the Haitham Foundation was sentenced to three years in jail by a military tribunal in July 2010 on charges of “weakening national sentiment” and “spreading false information that weakens the nation’s morale” after he criticized the Syrian authorities national television.
He was released on March 8 following an amnesty President Bashar Al- Assad granted him and many other prisoners who had committed crimes before March 7, 2011.
World alliance and citizen participation organisation CIVICUS also called on the UN Security Council to take action.
“The members of the UN Security council should not need to be reminded that the military crackdown on protesters in Syria has already claimed over 1 400 lives, many of them children,” said David Kode of CIVICUS.
The Syrian delegation confirmed that they had met with members of the ANC and would like to take the talks further by meeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during their visit. “It is a brutal situation. We are appalled by the continuous use of violence against the protesters that are peacefully demanding change”, said Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch Emergency director who has recently returned from Syria.