CDS Condemns Assad Elections as a Parody of Democracy
Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 03, 2014 -- The Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS), a coalition of groups representing over 100,000 Syrian-Americans, condemns and rejects Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's supposed elections that are scheduled for today in Syria and in Syrian embassies worldwide. According to a report by CNN released on June 2nd, the British Foreign Office described these elections as a "parody of democracy". The outcome of the elections is predetermined in light of the fact that Assad won his previous presidential election with an impossible total of 99% support, according to CNN.
Read: Syria elections: Outcome hardly in doubt in 'grotesque parody of democracy' [CNN]
While Assad's re-election campaign continues, his attack helicopters and fighter jets resume their campaign of relentless aerial assaults against civilians. To date, over 160,000 Syrians have been killed and over 40% of Syrians (9.3 million people) have been displaced due to Assad's crackdown. Additionally, 240,000 Syrians are being besieged to the point of starvation by Assad's ground troops, according to report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in March 2014. United Nations officials have further termed Syria as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, according to the same report.
Read more: Syria: 6 facts at the start of the 4th year of Syria’s conflict [OCHA]
“I am appalled that these elections are even occurring in light of the continued brutality of Bashar Al-Assad,” said Dr. Khawam, Chairman of the Syrian Emergency Task Force and CDS board member. “His crimes against his own people have risen to the level of war crimes, yet the world sits back and allows him to cover his brutality with a cloak of democratic legitimacy.”
To expose Assad's continued perpetration of bloody atrocities despite his faux electioneering, activists inside and outside Syria have organized a number of events under the watchword "Blood Elections," according to a report by The Daily Star on June 3rd. Inside Syria, residents passed out subversive flyers in the heart of the regime-occupied capital Damascus, while activists in the heartlands of Hama dyed the Orontes river red to protest Assad's ongoing bloodbath. Outside Syria, Syrian expatriates and their supporters held rallies in over 13 countries and dozens of cities, including a rally in front of the White House and a reading of the names for 100,000 Syrians who died in the conflict in front of the United Nations.
Read: Activists campaign against ‘blood election’
United for a Free Syria is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy, freedom and dignity for the Syrian people. UFS works to ensure that Syria becomes a thriving democracy and a model for its neighbors in the region.
Muna Jondy, United for a Free Syria, http://unitedfreesyria.org, +1 (810) 820-8691, [email protected]
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