Is nobody paying attention to Syria?

A few months a go, I decided on a lunatic whim to read the book Crimes Against Humanity by Geoffrey Robertson, and since then I have known what a Crime Against Humanity is.

A crime against humanity is a crime committed against the dignity of human beings and their human rights by a government or other organization in authority. Individual crimes by civilians are not one of its kinds. Hannibal Lecter, had he been real, would not be guilty of this crime, though as you know he can easily do unspeakable things to other humans too. This is because crimes against humanity are committed by those in power that abuse that power to the point that serious human rights violations are done as a matter of policy. It is called a crime against humanity because the crime is so evil, so odiously unfeeling that it shames humanity as a whole. It degrades the dignity of us humans and humiliates our morality that such crimes could be done by a fellow human being. It makes us ashamed that we are human.

And the Syrian government is committing these crimes to it people.

.

.

The Syrian government has kept international media off the country. Just yesterday I saw the news on CNN that they didn’t have a field operative in Syria because of it. All the while, Syrian authorities have continues to deny the allegations against them. This is a recent interview (Uploaded to youtube Dec 7) with Bashar al-Assad, president of Syria.

.

.

Allow me to reference one of my favorite authors on this one: Why hadn’t the glass lens of the camera melted? Why hadn’t my screen blazed rather than be part of this obscenity? Youtube should have crashed, the internet should have erupted into a chaos of fury.

And where is Philippine media with this story? This should have been the headlines for today, along with the Corona Impeachment drama. I mean, is it really of less importance than John Lloyd and Shaina getting back together (one bitten, twice shy)?

Something should be done about this. Immediately. But sadly, the UN is, as always, dragging its feet from international intervention. Among others, the Russia and China have vetoed against sanctions, perhaps afraid that if action is taken against his repressive government, it may be a precedent for intervention into their own countries as well.

I’m doing a very small bit to help. I’m giving a message to the office of the President to tell him to get the Philippines’ UN Ambassador to support intervention in Syria by any means necessary and save those who are being killed, unjustly incarcerated and tortured. Maybe tomorrow I’ll call the DFA’s number and get their email add, and pressure the Philippine government from there too. I’ll put it up here when I get hold of it. If you like, you can call the DFA but it’s long distance from Cebu, so I’ll get the email.

I know it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. If you feel inclined at all to help, please do what you can. You can do what I did or find other ways of helping. It’s up to you.

If you do decide to do what I did, click on the “office of the President” link. The more of us there are to flood their inboxes, the harder we are to ignore. If you clicked on the office of the president link, you will notice that there are links to social networking sites below the banner, so you can also contact the office there. I would encourage you to make your own message, but if you’re lazy you can just copy what I said rather than opt not to message instead.

Human rights organizations have reported crimes against humanity in Syria committed by the Syrian government, but the UN is dragging its feet from intervention. In light of this humanitarian crisis, please have the Philippines’ representation in the UN push for intervention by any means necessary in Syria. This would help save the Syrian people from unjust incarceration, torture and death.

Salamat

___________________________________

UPDATE:

Russia has, to everybody’s surprise, circulated a resolution condemning the violence in Syria. Sadly, it does not mention anything about intervention, so it’s woefully inadequate.

With regards to DFA’s contacts, I have the email for Philippines’ mission to UN New York here:  newyork.pm@dfa.gov.ph

I wouldn’t email it yet though. I still have to call DFA Cebu to find out where to send my message to.

-o-

Here are links to other news on Syria:

Video on the situation in Homs, Syria

The names of the commanders that gave the “Shoot to kill” orders.

-o-

Also, today Christopher Hitchens died. I raise an imaginary glass of Johnny Walker Black to him.