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'Unite for Syria' campaign launched on uprising anniversary Over 200 NGOs as well as activists and celebrities are participating in the 'Unite for Syria' campaign, to end violence in the country
A large coalition of groups has set Thursday, the first anniversary of the Syrian uprising, as a day to campaign for Russian backing of an anticipated UN Security Council resolution on Syria. The coalition, comprising 200 NGOs from 27 countries, will lobby for a Security Council resolution calling on the Syrian regime to stop its violent crackdown and grant access to humanitarian workers, journalists and human rights monitors. The international campaign is dubbed "Unite for Syria: Stop one year of bloodshed." Activists and celebrities will join in the effort and are to use the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook to promote the campaign. British actor Stephen Fry, singer Nelly Furtado, and prominent Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz are among those joining the campaign via Twitter. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the groups participating in the campaign, said that “Russia and China have twice blocked Security Council action, a defence of Assad that he has interpreted as a license to kill. Moscow and Beijing should stop providing diplomatic cover for Syrian atrocities, and start demanding an end to indiscriminate shelling and attacks on peaceful protesters.” A press release has summarised the aims of the campaign in four points. The coalition is calling on: 1. The UN Security Council to urgently pass a resolution calling on the Syrian government to bring an immediate end to its indiscriminate shelling and attacks on peaceful protesters 2. The international community to provide full support to Kofi Annan, the UN special representative for Syria, including to engage Russia and China in any UN initiative to end the crisis 3. The Syrian government and other armed actors to guarantee full and unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas of the country in which there is a need in accordance with international law 4. The ‘Friends of Syria' group to uphold promises made in Tunis to provide funding for humanitarian assistance. The Syrian uprising erupted on 15 March 2011. The ensuing crackdown by the regime is said to have claimed over 8000 lives, as reported by activists, and the deaths of 2000 from Syria's security forces and military, as claimed by the regime. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/36804.aspx
