DAMASCUS/GENEVA: Activists called for a day of protest against Russian backing for Syrian authorities Tuesday, after rights groups said security forces shot dead at least 17 people around the city of Hama Monday.
“The toll of victims from the operation mounted by security forces and the army in the Hama area has risen to 17 dead,” the Britain-based group told AFP in Cyprus. More than 60 people were arrested, it said.

The Observatory also reported a 12-year-old boy killed in Douma, near Damascus, by gunfire from security forces who fired on a funeral, and a man and his son killed in the central province of Homs in the town of Al-Rastan.

The latest violence comes after pro-democracy activists called for a “day of anger” Tuesday in protest at Russia’s backing for President Bashar Assad, whose regime has waged a deadly six-month crackdown on protesters.
“Do not support the killers. Do not kill the Syrians with your position,” activists urged Russia in a posting on The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook page that has been the engine for the revolt.

They wrote that a “day of anger” against Russia would be held Tuesday.
Russia has blocked attempts by the United Nations to sanction Assad’s regime and is promoting a separate draft resolution that simply calls on the government and the opposition to open direct talks.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev defended the Syrian regime Monday against sanctions for its crackdown, and also warned visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron of the dangers of such a move.
Cameron met Medvedev in Moscow for talks focusing on Syria and bilateral disputes as global frustration mounted with Russia’s continued support for its ally.
The latest deaths were reported as vastly differing death tolls from the conflict were reported between Syrian authorities and the U.N. Human Rights chief.

Assad’s media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said 1,400 people – half of them Syrian security and army forces – had died in violence since the demonstrations erupted in mid-March.
However, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said 2,600 people have now been killed in the crackdown.
Nations such as France have accused Assad’s regime of committing crimes against humanity and the French Foreign Ministry said Monday the U.N. Security Council’s inability to approve a resolution on Syria was “a scandal.”
Medvedev, however, refused to give any ground on what is fast becoming a heated sequel to the two sides’ war of words over the NATO-led campaign in Libya.

The Kremlin chief insisted that Russia was ready to put more pressure on the Syrian leader and argued that his differences with the West were “not dramatic.”
Yet he also stressed that any punitive actions must be applied equally to both sides because the opposition was continuing to reject calls to engage in direct talks.

“This resolution must be strict, but it must not lead to the automatic application of sanctions,” Medvedev said in reference to action proposed by Western powers. Medvedev’s push for Syrian dialogue was undermined in Moscow by Shaaban, who appeared to reject the idea of establishing contacts with the opposition.
“Is there any party in Syria with which [Russia] could mediate?” asked Shaaban. “There is no such party.”

Her comments were followed hours later by Syrian dissident spokeswoman Basma Qadmani’s announcement that the opposition would present Thursday a list of candidates for a “national council” similar to one formed in Libya.
Medvedev’s tough talk and lack of progress on the ground left Cameron to acknowledge that the two sides had essentially failed to bridge their gap on Syria.
“There is a difference of perspective between Russia and Britain on this issue,” Cameron said. “Clearly, Britain would like to go further. We do not see a future for Assad.”

The U.N. resolution Russia is blocking would most likely affect arms sales – the one area left untouched by the powerful economic sanctions imposed already by the European Union and the United States.
Switzerland followed suit Monday by widening its travel and financial embargo against Assad’s regime to 19 individuals and eight institutions.

But Russia has been keen to preserve some $4 billion in current and future Syrian arms contracts and has taken more assertive steps in trying to persuade Assad to adopt political improvements that could keep his hold on power.
Shaaban said after talks with the upper house of parliament’s foreign affairs chief Mikhail Margelov that Syria favored the cautious reform process seen in Russia since the Soviet Union’s collapse.

“In the past 20 years, Russia has undergone various processes that led to structural changes,” she said. “We want things in Syria to develop the way they did in Russia, in a bloodless manner.”
Margelov said he had received Assad’s approval to send a group of Russian senators to Damascus and other Syrian cities to independently report on the situation on the ground.

Thousands of Syrian protesters had issued Friday their first call for international protection against repression.
The U.N. meanwhile named a three-member panel of international experts Monday to investigate human rights violations, including possible crimes against humanity since anti-government protests began in Syria.
Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil will lead the commission of inquiry, which the U.N. Human Rights Council agreed to set up last month to probe arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and killings and report back by the end of November.