Summary:

The rights groups Avaaz also claims that at least 617 have been killed while under detention as a result of torture, including 39 children.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/6200-killed-in-syrian-crackdown

[22 December 2011] - More than 6,200 people, including hundreds of children, have died in Syria's crackdown on an anti-government revolt, a human rights group said on Thursday.

Syria is facing increasingly fierce international condemnation for its handling of months of demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, partly inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings that have swept across North Africa and the Middle East.

Syria says it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists" and on Thursday announced that more than 2,000 of its security forces had been killed in the unrest.

The British-based Avaaz rights group said it had collected evidence of more than 6,237 deaths of civilians and security forces, 617 of them under torture. At least 400 of the dead were children, it added.

The figures were about 1,000 higher that the latest UN estimates, which have also been climbing sharply in recent months.

"No once can now turn a blind eye to the horror show in Syria … One in every 300 Syrians has either been killed or imprisoned," said Avaaz executive director Ricken Patel.

"The world faces a choice: it stands by while brutal civil war rips through the country or it steps up the pressure to force Assad out," he added.

Security forces had detained at least 69,000 people since the uprising began in March, Avaaz said, around 32,000 of whom had since been released.

The death toll is rising sharply as the mainly peaceful protest movement against the Assad family's 41-year rule becomes overshadowed by clashes with armed rebel groups, who call themselves the Free Syrian Army.

Avaaz estimated that 917 in its count died in those clashes, with the casualties roughly divided between the armed rebels and Syrian security personnel.

This has been one of the bloodiest weeks of the nine-month uprising. On Tuesday, the army's efforts to quash revolt near the Turkish border killed more than 111 civilians and activists, another activist group said.

An advance team for an Arab League monitoring mission was due to arrive in Damascus on Thursday to prepare the ground for about 150 observers.

They will have the job of checking if Syria is complying with an Arab initiative that calls for an end to violence, the withdrawal of troops from the street and the release of prisoners.

Avaaz said it had more than 50 monitors on the ground collecting data for its reports. Each person on its death toll was confirmed by three individuals, it said, including a relative of the deceased and a cleric who handled the body.

The group estimates that 40 per cent of the deaths were in the central city of Homs, a protest hotspot and centre of armed rebellion against security forces. 

Further Information: 

• UN: Security Council urged to refer Syria to the ICC (13 December 2011) 
• SYRIA: Boy, 10, slain in home by sniper (12 December 2011) 
• SYRIA: Assad denies responsibility for the killing of thousands of anti-government protesters (7 December 2011)
• UN: Call for applications for Special Rapporteur on Syria (7 December 2011) 
• SYRIA: Human Rights Council adopts resolution and establishes mandate for Special Rapporteur (5 December 2011) 
• SYRIA: Children's rights violations feature in Special Session on Syria (2 December 2011) 
• UN: Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (November 2011) 
• SYRIA: UN rights panel voices alarm at reported torture of children (25 November 2011)
• SYRIA: Wave of violence targets children (23 November 2011) 
• SYRIA: Death toll surpasses 3,500 (9 November 2011)
• SYRIA: Three children among latest killed (28 October 2011) 
• SYRIA: NGOs appeal to UN General Assembly to condemn violence (24 October 2011) 
• SYRIA: Concerns over “rampant torture” (7 October 2011)
• SYRIA: New report indicates over 5,000 deaths since March, including 148 children (Avvaz, 22 September 2011)
• SYRIA: Death toll tops 2,700, including 100 children (20 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Boy, 12, shot dead during funeral procession (13 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: President of HRC appoints investigative commission to probe human rights violations (12 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Teen killed as protesters call for international protection (9 September 2011) 
• SYRIA: Amnesty report shows 88 civilians killed in detention, including 10 children (31 August 2011) 
• SYRIA: A child's killing freeze-frames tragedy (17 August 2011) 
• SYRIA: Over 70 children killed since March (5 August 2011)
• SYRIA: Defectors describe orders to shoot unarmed protesters (18 July 2011)  
• SYRIA: Second teenager tortured to death (16 June 2011) 
• SYRIA: Soldier 'ordered to fire' on peaceful protesters (10 June 2011)
• More on children's rights in Syria 

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Last updated 09/01/2012 11:46:35

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