Urging End to Shameful UN Security Council Silence on Syria

30 November, 2011

Urging End to Shameful U.N. Security Council Silence on Syria

Amnesty International To Set Up Memorial Outside U.N. Headquarters to Thousands of Dead in Syrian Uprising

Activists Urge U.N. to Refer Syria to International Court, Impose Arms Embargo, and Freeze Assad’s Assets

On Wednesday, 30 November outside United Nations headquarters in New York, Amnesty International activists will urge the Security Council to end its shameful silence about the bloodshed in Syria and act to prevent more people from dying. The organisation will set up a “memorial banner” onto which activists will place the individual names of some of the more than 3,000 people who have died in the Syrian uprising.

The action will start at 1.00pm at 1 Dag Hammskjold Plaza across from the U.N. building. This is 7.00am on 1 December, New Zealand time.

The activists will demand that the Security Council respond to the serious human rights abuses in Syria that Amnesty International considers crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International and Syrian activists will be calling for a referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court. Amnesty International also wants the United Nations to impose an arms embargo and a freeze on the assets of President Bashar al-Assad and other public figures involved in committing human rights violations.

The rally is part of Amnesty International's ongoing Eyes on Syria (www.eyesonsyria.org) campaign, which monitors the serious human rights violations committed in the context of the eight month uprising.

Since the beginning of the uprising, more than 3,000 civilians have been killed.

The rally comes shortly after the release of the report by the United Nations Human Rights Council's Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which raises concerns that crimes against humanity have occurred in context of the uprising.

Around the world Amnesty International activists will be adding their voices to the action through the use of the internet and social media. Here in New Zealand we will be sending the message: NZ asks: How many more Syrians have to die, putting New Zealand on the interactive map and taking action online at www.eyesonsyria.org.

What: Rally to encourage the United Nations to respond to human rights violations in Syria
When: Wednesday, 30 November at 1pm (New York time) - 1 December at 7am (NZ time)
Where: 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York

For more information, visit www.eyesonsyria.org.

To read Amnesty International’s response to the UN report visit http://www.amnesty.org.nz/news/states-must-act-resolutely-un-report-syria

ENDS

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