Forum Post: Syria - Noam Chomsky and Human Rights Watch

For those interested in the issue of Human Rights as it pertains to Syria - Human Rights Watch has their World Report 2012: Syria

Where topics include:

Killings of Protesters and Bystanders

Security forces and government-supported armed groups used violence, often lethal, to attack and disperse overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government protesters from mid-March onwards. The exact number of dead is impossible to verify due to restrictions on access, but local groups documented 3,500 civilian dead as of November 15.

Violations during Large-Scale Military Operations

Security forces conducted several large-scale military operations in restive towns and cities, resulting in mass killings, arrests, and detentions as well as the use of torture. In April tanks and armored personnel carriers imposed a siege on the city of Daraa for 11 days, killing at least 115 residents according to local activists. Daraa residents told Human Rights Watch that security forces occupied all neighborhoods, placed snipers on roofs of buildings across the city, and prevented any movement of residents by firing on those who tried to leave their homes. Security forces launched a massive arrest campaign, arbitrarily detaining hundreds. Released detainees said that security forces subjected them, as well as hundreds of others they saw in detention, to various forms of torture and degrading treatment.

Arbitrary Arrests, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture

Security forces subjected thousands of people to arbitrary arrests and widespread torture in detention. The exact numbers are impossible to verify but information that Human Rights Watch collected suggests that security forces detained more than 20,000 people between March and September. Many detainees were young men in their 20s or 30s; but children, women, and elderly people were also included. While the government appears to have released most after several days or weeks in detention, several hundred remained missing at this writing.

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I get bashing American Imperialism - that's a no brainer.

But this level of hypocrisy isn't simply unacceptable - It's outrageous.

So what's Noam Say?

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Noam Chomsky’s interview with Al-Jazeera on the Syrian revolution is a classic exposition of the first approach. Chomsky is very clear on his opposition to any military intervention, but in his case this does not involve him in justifying the regime, or in treating the principled motives behind the revolution as if they were suspect.

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  • From: http://www.opendemocracy.net/odai-alzoubi/syria-and-left
  • emphasis added by me

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You people should get a clue - try using both hands . . .