Govt to impose additional Syrian sanctions

Australia has joined a growing number of countries calling for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it will impose additional sanctions against members of a regime involved in violent repression.

Acting Foreign Minister Craig Emerson said once in place, Australia's autonomous sanctions regime will impose travel and financial restrictions against 34 individuals and 13 entities.

He said reports indicated an estimated 2000 people had been killed since civil unrest in Syria began in March.

"The people of Syria must be allowed to engage in peaceful political activity and be given the chance to determine their own future," Dr Emerson said in a statement on Friday.

"Australia continues to call for the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for investigation of alleged atrocities against anti-government protesters."

Australia first proposed such a referral in June.

He said Australia was supporting the people of Syria through humanitarian relief and medical assistance delivered by the Red Cross.

"Australia has been deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Syria and the welfare of its people since the start of the violent repression of protesters in March," Dr Emerson said.

Syrian Forces Seal Off Port City of Latakia

Syria’s military closed off access to the Mediterranean port of Latakia by land and sea and stormed the suburbs of the city of Homs in an effort to prevent further anti-government protests, activists said.

Unrest has died down in Latakia, with troops restricting movement in and out of the city, which was overtaken by soldiers backed by tanks and warships this week, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said today by phone from Damascus, the capital. As many as 50 people have died since the sea blockade began Aug. 14, he said. The severing of communication links with Latakia has made it difficult to learn whether the number killed by security forces has risen, he said.

In Homs, where the government crackdown killed at least 24 demonstrators on Aug. 8, soldiers stormed a residential area of a suburb, killing as many as 15, Merhi said. Protesters also returned to the streets in Dera’a, and in the capital, Damascus.

More than 2,400 people have been killed since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government began in March, according to Merhi and Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. The United Nations put the toll at about 2,000. The U.S. State Department estimated that the government has detained more than 30,000 people. Protests began after demonstrations toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt, and destabilized Libya.

International pressure on the government is increasing, with U.S. President Barack Obama, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and British Prime Minister David Cameron calling on Syria to stop attacking its people. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Aug. 12 urged nations doing business with Syria to cut off trade and arms sales. Canada is extending sanctions on Assad’s regime.

The UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees said a number of Palestinians were killed as the security forces fired at a refugee camp in Latakia. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East called upon the authorities to exercise the “utmost restraint in accordance with international law,” according to a statement on its website.

Assad, who came to power in 2000, has blamed the protests on foreign-inspired plots. More than 500 members of the security forces have died since the unrest began, the government said.

Many of Assad’s top officials are from the Alawite branch of Islam, an offshoot of Shiism, while most of Syria’s population is Sunni Muslim.

The U.S. is concerned about the prospect of sectarian violence in Syria and the chance it will spark more instability, a U.S. official said last week. The Obama administration may call on Assad soon to step down, said the official, who asked not to be identified because the administration was still discussing the issue.