This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/world/middleeast/rights-group-assails-inaction-on-syria.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Human Rights Watch Criticizes Inaction on Syria | Human Rights Watch Criticizes Inaction on Syria |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BERLIN — The advocacy group Human Rights Watch sharply criticized international powers on Tuesday for the way they are dealing with the civil war in Syria, saying that the desire to bring President Bashar al-Assad’s government to the negotiating table should not become a pretext for failing to protect civilians caught in the conflict, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives. | BERLIN — The advocacy group Human Rights Watch sharply criticized international powers on Tuesday for the way they are dealing with the civil war in Syria, saying that the desire to bring President Bashar al-Assad’s government to the negotiating table should not become a pretext for failing to protect civilians caught in the conflict, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives. |
| The group included the criticism in an annual accounting of human rights records around the world on Tuesday, the day before an international peace conference on the Syrian conflict was set to begin in Montreux, Switzerland. | The group included the criticism in an annual accounting of human rights records around the world on Tuesday, the day before an international peace conference on the Syrian conflict was set to begin in Montreux, Switzerland. |
| Separately, a team of legal and forensic experts commissioned by the government of Qatar said on Monday that thousands of photographs showing scarred, emaciated corpses offered “direct evidence” of mass torture by Syrian government forces. | Separately, a team of legal and forensic experts commissioned by the government of Qatar said on Monday that thousands of photographs showing scarred, emaciated corpses offered “direct evidence” of mass torture by Syrian government forces. |
| Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, which has its headquarters in New York, said the images were consistent with what his organization had seen when it visited detention centers in Syria. The photographs, provided to the Syrian opposition by a man who described himself as a defector from Mr. Assad’s security forces, highlight the importance of opening up Syrian detention facilities to international inspection, he said. | Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, which has its headquarters in New York, said the images were consistent with what his organization had seen when it visited detention centers in Syria. The photographs, provided to the Syrian opposition by a man who described himself as a defector from Mr. Assad’s security forces, highlight the importance of opening up Syrian detention facilities to international inspection, he said. |
| Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Mr. Roth said that Western governments, and especially the United States, had not spoken out strongly enough about the violence for fear that it could endanger the peace talks. | Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Mr. Roth said that Western governments, and especially the United States, had not spoken out strongly enough about the violence for fear that it could endanger the peace talks. |
| “It is essential that the mass atrocities being committed in Syria be a parallel focus of any diplomatic effort,” Mr. Roth said. He called for an end to the indiscriminate killing of civilians and an opening of Syria’s borders for humanitarian aid. “We cannot afford to wait for the distant prospect of a peace accord before the killing of 5,000 Syrians a month comes to an end.” | “It is essential that the mass atrocities being committed in Syria be a parallel focus of any diplomatic effort,” Mr. Roth said. He called for an end to the indiscriminate killing of civilians and an opening of Syria’s borders for humanitarian aid. “We cannot afford to wait for the distant prospect of a peace accord before the killing of 5,000 Syrians a month comes to an end.” |
| In addition to Syria, the group’s report also condemned what it called “lip service” paid to democracy by the governments of Egypt and Myanmar. | In addition to Syria, the group’s report also condemned what it called “lip service” paid to democracy by the governments of Egypt and Myanmar. |
| Human Rights Watch said that rest of the world had done too little to intervene in Syria to protect civilians, in contrast with the efforts mounted by France, the United States and the United Nations in African countries like the Central African Republic South Sudan. | |
| President Obama’s record on national security issues was criticized in the report, from the continued existence of the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to what the group called the unlawful killing of civilians through drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The group also faulted the “virtually unchecked mass electronic surveillance” that was revealed by documents released by Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor. While Human Rights Watch praised Mr. Obama for appointing a panel to recommend reforms, the group questioned whether the recommendations would translate into concrete policy changes. | President Obama’s record on national security issues was criticized in the report, from the continued existence of the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to what the group called the unlawful killing of civilians through drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The group also faulted the “virtually unchecked mass electronic surveillance” that was revealed by documents released by Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor. While Human Rights Watch praised Mr. Obama for appointing a panel to recommend reforms, the group questioned whether the recommendations would translate into concrete policy changes. |
| “His speech did not address some of the fundamental problems with the massive invasion of our privacy rights represented by the N.S.A.'s surveillance,” Mr. Roth said, referring to the president’s speech last week on the nation’s intelligence programs. “There is a complete failure to recognize the privacy interests involved.” | “His speech did not address some of the fundamental problems with the massive invasion of our privacy rights represented by the N.S.A.'s surveillance,” Mr. Roth said, referring to the president’s speech last week on the nation’s intelligence programs. “There is a complete failure to recognize the privacy interests involved.” |
| The report also expressed concern that other governments, including those with poor rights records, could follow the American example in surveillance, forcing “user data to stay within their own borders, setting up the potential for increased Internet censorship.” In addition, the group chided the United States for attempting to prosecute Mr. Snowden under the Espionage Act, noting that the decision has allowed Russia, which has offered temporary sanctuary to Mr. Snowden, to “recast itself as a champion of privacy rights.” | The report also expressed concern that other governments, including those with poor rights records, could follow the American example in surveillance, forcing “user data to stay within their own borders, setting up the potential for increased Internet censorship.” In addition, the group chided the United States for attempting to prosecute Mr. Snowden under the Espionage Act, noting that the decision has allowed Russia, which has offered temporary sanctuary to Mr. Snowden, to “recast itself as a champion of privacy rights.” |
| President Vladimir V. Putin’s decision to free activists from the punk band Pussy Riot and the environmental group Greenpeace, as well as the Russian dissident Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, were dismissed as attempts to avoid international criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics that begin in Sochi next month. “The effect was largely to highlight the arbitrariness” of Mr. Putin’s government, the report said. | President Vladimir V. Putin’s decision to free activists from the punk band Pussy Riot and the environmental group Greenpeace, as well as the Russian dissident Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, were dismissed as attempts to avoid international criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics that begin in Sochi next month. “The effect was largely to highlight the arbitrariness” of Mr. Putin’s government, the report said. |
| Egypt, Myanmar and Thailand, as well as Ukraine — where mass street protests turned violent again this week — were singled out as examples where governments pledged to make democratic changes that never came to fruition. Human Rights Watch praised the resulting widespread protests as an indication that the public is not willing to be denied basic freedoms. | Egypt, Myanmar and Thailand, as well as Ukraine — where mass street protests turned violent again this week — were singled out as examples where governments pledged to make democratic changes that never came to fruition. Human Rights Watch praised the resulting widespread protests as an indication that the public is not willing to be denied basic freedoms. |
| Compromises among political parties achieved in Tunisia were held up as an example of how, despite a stalled economy and political polarization, a consensus can be achieved in a young democracy that emerged from the popular movements for change across the Arab world in 2011, known as the Arab Spring. | Compromises among political parties achieved in Tunisia were held up as an example of how, despite a stalled economy and political polarization, a consensus can be achieved in a young democracy that emerged from the popular movements for change across the Arab world in 2011, known as the Arab Spring. |