HRW urges UNSC to demand humanitarian access in Syria

The Human Rights group Human Rights Watch on Monday urged the Security Council, when it meets tomorrow Tuesday on the humanitarian and human rights situation in Syria, to demand from the Government and armed opposition alike to grant humanitarian organizations access to the civilians and the wounded trapped by the fighting and to ensure safe passage for medical teams to treat them. UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos and representatives of the Human Rights Council and the UN High-Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are scheduled to brief the Council on Tuesday on the humanitarian situation in Syria. "Denial of humanitarian access and safe passage to civilians trapped in fighting in violation of the laws of war has been a recurring issue during the Syrian armed conflict," Human Rights Watch said in a statement. It recalled that a recent Human Rights Watch investigation into the government and Hezbollah attack on al-Qusayr, near Homs, found that Damascus' refusal to allow humanitarian organizations access to the town "appears to have contributed to several dozen deaths" because no safe evacuation routes were available to civilians, and wounded people were denied adequate medical care. "Many lives in al-Qusayr might have been saved if the Syrian government had allowed aid organizations to do their job," said Ole Solvang, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. "When people are dying every day, Security Council members should be calling for humanitarian access, not hiding behind political negotiations". He complained that Russia blocked the Council from issuing a statement demanding humanitarian access to al-Qusayr during the fighting in May and June, and to Homs this month. HRW said government forces have intensified their offensive since June 28 to retake the opposition-controlled old city of Homs, as well as its Khaldiyeh and Baba Houd neighborhoods. Opposition forces have also imposed sieges on the Shia towns of Nubul and Zahra in Aleppo governorate, limiting access for approximately 70,000 people to food, fuel, and medical supplies, according to the UN Commission of Inquiry. "Both government and opposition forces have besieged towns with little regard for the lives of civilians and wounded trapped inside," Solvang said. "Both sides need to stop punishing civilians immediately". The statement said the parties to the conflict in Syria "must allow" the free passage of food relief to civilians at risk, and "must consent" to allowing relief operations to take place. They can, however, take steps to make sure that relief shipments do not include weapons.