BEIRUT/ NICOSIA: Syrian security forces prevented medical staff from reaching the wounded in at least two towns that saw clashes with anti-government protesters, an international human rights group said Tuesday.
Protests erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago and have steadily grown, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping reforms in one of the most authoritarian Mideast regimes. More than 170 people have been killed so far.
Human Rights Watch urged Syrian authorities in a statement released Tuesday to allow those injured in the violence "unimpeded access" to medical treatment.
Meanwhile, Syria’s leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration, urged the Arab League in Cairo to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Syria and put "political and diplomatic" pressure on Damascus to protect civilians. The Syrian group said more than 200 people have been killed in the turmoil across the nation.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said security forces did not allow ambulances to approach the road to pick up the wounded after prayers last Friday in the southern town of Daraa and in the town of Harasta, near Damascus. About three dozen people died in the violence that day.
"To deprive wounded people of critical and perhaps life-saving medical treatment is both inhumane and illegal," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Barring people from needed medical care causes grave suffering and perhaps irreparable harm."
The Syrian group’s statement, issued late Monday, said people have been protesting peacefully "but bullets were the response of security forces." It said the Syrian regime ordered international media to leave the country in order to prevent the "revealing of atrocities the regime inflicted against the people."
It urged the Arab League to impose political, diplomatic and economic sanctions against the regime in Syria.
In the latest violence, security forces killed a student Monday during a protest at Damascus University, activists said. There were conflicting reports about whether the student was shot or beaten to death.
Also Monday, international pressure mounted on Syrian President Bashar Assad, with key European governments and the United Nations denouncing the deadly crackdown that has failed to dampen the popular uprising.
After the protests began, Assad promised to form committees to look into the possibility of reform. Other gestures included granting citizenship to thousands of Kurds, the country’s long-ostracized minority, and sacking his Cabinet.
"Syria’s leaders talk about political reform, but they meet their people’s legitimate demands for reform with bullets," Whitson said.
Meanwhile, Syria’s protest flashpoint town of Banias was completely cut off from the outside world on Tuesday, still encircled by the army three days after a residential neighborhood was strafed by deadly gunfire.
"Security forces and the army continue to assault Banias and we know what they are preparing for us," said Anas Al-Shuhri, one of the leaders of the opposition movement challenging the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.
"There is a shortage of bread in the city, electricity is cut and the majority of phone lines are too," he added.
Several residents of the coastal town, 280 kilometers (174 miles) northwest of Damascus, confirmed Al-Shuhri’s testimony, particularly the bread shortage.
Abdelbasset, an electrician, told AFP the situation was "extremely bad"
"The army was redeployed outside the city and the security forces and shabbiha (regime agents) conducted a number of arrests. The town is dead, shops are closed," he said.
"Banias is surrounded by tanks, no one can get in or out. It is like a prison," said Yasser, a shopkeeper.
"We cannot get bread anymore in Banias. Bread supplies were brought from (the city of) Tartus but that is not enough. The petrol stations are also closed," he added.
Yasser said: "Security forces were responsible for killing soldiers in Banias because they had refused to attack the city,", an account which differed sharply from the official version of events.
The official Sana news agency had said nine soldiers, including two officers were killed on Sunday when their patrol was ambushed outside the coastal town, 280 kilometers northwest of Damascus.
Preacher Sheikh Mohammed said: "Several families evacuated women and children (to the outskirts of the city), because we are in the Ras Al-Nabee neighborhood which was targeted by gunfire from Al-Quz neighborhood.
"The bakers of the town do not have enough bread," he added.
The army has encircled Banias since Sunday, when regime agents opened fired on residents, particularly in front of mosques, killing four people and wounding 17, according to witnesses.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group called for fresh protests in Syria on Tuesday to show "loyalty with the martyrs, wounded and prisoners" after a bloody weekend crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators.
"Today, March 12, is the day of loyalty towards the martyrs, wounded and prisoners, who are the heroes of the free youth revolution," said the organizers on Facebook page the Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Al-Assad, which has played a key role in mobilizing recent protests.
"We will shout slogans despite our wounds and hold peaceful sit-ins until we obtain our freedom," the group said. "We will not stop, nor backtrack.
Our cause is clear. It is a revolution by the people for the people and the demands are clear. Our path is peaceful and the objective is freedom."
The Facebook call came after a bloody weekend crackdown that left at least 30 civilians dead in the flashpoint towns of Daraa and Banias.
Syrian human rights activists have reported a country-wide wave of arrests focused on protest participants and organizers.
Syrian students on Monday staged a rally, rare for Damascus, to express solidarity with protesters killed over the weekend.
