Monday, March 5, 2012

Syrians fleeing Homs accuse troops of atrocities

One woman told the BBC's Paul Wood on the outskirts of Homs that soldiers had slit the throat of her 12-year-old son on Friday - a day after rebel fighters withdrew from the Baba Amr district.
She said 35 other men and boys from her area had also been detained and killed.
The government has denied the Red Cross access to Baba Amr for four consecutive days, citing security concerns.


One woman, who had walked for three days to escape, said that on Friday troops had taken 36 men and boys from one area and killed them.
"My son's throat was cut," she said. "He was 12."
Her husband said he was hiding about 50m away and saw one soldier hold down their son's head with his boot while another killed him.

Several men who said they had defected from an elite army unit last week told our correspondent that civilians were being targeted deliberately by security forces and their prisoners were being killed.
"A lieutenant gave us the order," he said. "We were told in this operation: 'You shoot anything that moves - civilian or military - you shoot at it.'
"An old man was arrested. An officer put a gun to his head. He said: 'This is for freedom,' and he shot him.

When Russia and and China vetoed an UN Security Council Resolution last month it gave the Syrian government a green light to continue its indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians. One must assume that the governments of Russia and China are quite proud at how the issuance of that veto has worked out with thousands of innocent people.  


No comments:

Translate