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Syria rejects UN Human Rights Council report

China.org.cn, February 15, 2012

• Syria rejected the report by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on Tuesday and regarded it as "new allegations."

  Hundreds of members of the Druze religious community gather at the village of Majdel Shams near the border between Israel and Syria on Feb. 14, 2012. Hundreds of members of the Druze religious community gathered Tuesday to express support for Bashar al-Assad on the 31st anniversary of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights which it captured in the 1967 War. [Xinhua]

  Syria's Foreign Ministry said that the HRC has turned into a tool in the hands of the countries that are targeting Syria and ignoring the terrorist acts carried out by the armed groups.

  The HRC report on Monday condemned "continued widespread, systematic, and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" committed by Syrian authorities.

  It also invited UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support the Arab League in its actions on the matter. The report passed in the HRC with 37 votes in favor, four against, and six abstentions.

  Meanwhile, Bashar Ja'afari, permanent representative of Syria to the UN, said here Monday that the international community is failing to respect principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-intervention in the case of Syria, therefore helping to prolong the conflict in Syria.

  "It was as if all the charter of the United Nations was being ignored, and a new draft was being written," he said.

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