PressRelease:SACDemandsImmediate Intervention&Protectionfor Homs

(Chicago, IL, 12/09/11) - The Syrian American Council (SAC) today called for urgent U.S. and international action to halt the Assad regime's impending assault on Homs, the city largely recognized as the heart of the Syrian revolution. Activists in Homs report that the regime is preparing for a full-fledged assault on the region in a determined effort to annihilate the revolution in Syria. Yesterday, the Syrian National Council (SNC) issued a statement warning against the regime's plans, affirming that there are evident "signs of a security crackdown operation that may reach the level of a total invasion of the city." The SNC describes that thousands of military troops and a large number of military vehicles currently surround Homs and more than 60 checkpoints have been erected inside the city borders around the different neighborhoods. Read: The Syrian National Council Warns Against the Regime's Plans to Commit a Massacre in Homs Homs is also on the radar of the U.S. State Department. In today's press briefing, the Department's Spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, expressed concern about what is currently happening in Homs. "There are reports today... that the government may be preparing a very serious new assault on the city of Homs in a very large-scale way," she said. She affirmed that Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for the violence taking place, despite his comments to the contrary in his recent interview with ABC's Barbara Walters. Nuland further stated that the U.S. government supports the Arab League's efforts to "move this process forward," and both are continuing in their consultations with Russia and China to accept a UN Security Council resolution. Last week, the UN Human Rights Commission released a report detailing the "crimes against humanity" being perpetrated by the Syrian regime's military and security forces. The report describes crimes of murder, torture, rape, forced disappearances and other "inhumane" acts. The commission concluded, "In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by State forces in many regions," and "Bashar Assad andtheheadsofhissecurityapparatusmustbereferredtotheInternationalCriminalCourt immediately." Read: Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity - UN rights panel Inastatement,SACPresidentDr.TalalSunbullisaid: "We all know the brutality of which the Assad regime is capable, and it is critical that the international community intervene. We must do all that we can to prevent Homs from becoming another Hama. The U.S. government, the European Union, the Arab League, and the international community as a whole are responsible for what lies ahead for the people of Syria and specifically for the civilians in Homs today. The people of Homs require our protection immediately. It is time for action." The Syrian American Council (SAC) was founded in 2005 to mobilize Syrian Americans to strengthen civil society in Syria, to promote friendly relations between the Syrian and American peoples, to engage civic and governmental organizations to advance civil liberties, human dignity and democracy in Syria. The organization has represented Syrian Americans totheU.S.StateDepartment,Congress,andininternationalmeetingsandcouncils. ### Contact: SAC President Dr. Talal Sunbulli, tsunbulli@sacouncil.com, (708) 373-6531;or SAC Chairman Hussam Ayloush, hayloush@sacouncil.com, (951) 444-8344.
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