Thursday, February 08, 2018

"Drowning in blood,”

Residents of the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta have endured a fourth day of relentless bombardment by the Syrian government.

The UN commission of inquiry, tasked with investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, condemned the upsurge of violence in Idlib and Ghouta, saying they “make a mockery” of the de-escalation agreement.

“What is happening in eastern Ghouta is not simply a humanitarian crisis because aid is denied. These sieges involve the international crimes of indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate starvation of the civilian population,” said Paulo Pinheiro, the chair of the commission.

France’s ambassador to the UN, François Delattre, called for unhindered access for aid agencies. “Eastern Ghouta is experiencing a Middle Ages-style siege. That is totally unacceptable.”

“There is no safe place in Ghouta,” said Raed Srewel, a journalist based in Douma, another town in the area. “It has become a city of ghosts, and if you walk in it, it is filled with the smell of death and blood.”

“Ghouta is drowning in blood,” said a doctor in Arbeen, one of the towns in the region.

The Socialist Party would welcome any compromise that ended a painful and meaningless conflict whose victims are almost exclusively members of the working class. 

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