DAMASCUS: The United Nations condemned Monday the “shocking” brutality of President Bashar Assad’s regime, as activists said at least 15 people were killed in the latest crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Dozens of tanks for a second straight day circled towns and villages in the Homs area, north of Damascus.
At least 15 people were shot dead Sunday and Monday in Rastan and Talbisa, towns in the flashpoint central region of Homs, an activist, who declined to be identified, told AFP.

Among those killed was “a little girl called Hajar al-Khatib.”
“Two bodies were found at dawn Monday in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs,” which the security forces had closed off with several roadblocks, said the activist, who said he had a list of names.
U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay condemned the crackdown on Syrian protesters, saying the actions were shocking in their disregard for human rights.

“The brutality and magnitude of measures taken by the governments in Libya and now Syria have been particularly shocking in their outright disregard for basic human rights,” Pillay told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“Resort to lethal or excessive force against peaceful demonstrators not only violates fundamental rights, including the right to life, but serves to exacerbate tensions and tends to breed a culture of violence,” Pillay said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights also renewed a call to the Syrian regime to allow a fact-finding mission to visit the country.

Syria’s deputy foreign minister, meanwhile, accused Western powers of seeking a return “to the colonial era” in his country by initiating action against Damascus at the United Nations, the official SANA news agency reported.
“It is about imposing hegemony on Syria and using the U.N. as a way of re-establishing colonialism and to justify interference,” Faisal Meqdad said.
Police were continuing to sweep the Homs region Monday as hundreds of people wounded in the crackdown were hospitalized in the nearby city of Hama.

SANA said four soldiers were killed and 14 wounded by “terrorist groups” in Talbiseh Sunday before a number of them were arrested and a large quantity of weapons seized.
Activists said protesters took to the streets of Hama and Saraqeb, near Idleb in the northwest, during the night to call for the downfall of Assad’s regime.
Hundreds of people also marched Sunday in Douma and Jdaidat, on the outskirts of Damascus, chanting “Allahu Akbar” or “God is greatest,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Facebook, Syrian pro-democracy activists urged protesters Monday to burn portraits of Assad.

The latest bloodshed came as security forces killed at least 12 protesters to disperse rallies against Assad’s regime last Friday, activists said.More than 1,000 people have been killed and 10,000 arrested since the revolt began, human rights groups say. Syrian authorities say 143 soldiers, security forces and police have been killed.
On Monday, U.S. ambassador Eileen Donahoe also slammed Syria for its refusal to allow in a UNHCR mission.
“We note, however, whereas the commission of inquiry has been afforded access to Libya, the Syrian regime’s refusal to afford similar access is intolerable.
“We call on the Syrian government to expeditiously admit OHCHR [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] to the country and allow for an objective and independent investigation,” Donahoe said.
Foreign journalists are barred from traveling inside Syria, making it difficult to report on the unrest and verify witness accounts.

The government insists the unrest is the work of “armed terrorist gangs” backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
It initially responded to the revolt by offering some concessions, including lifting the state of emergency in place for nearly five decades, but coupled this with a fierce crackdown.
The opposition has dismissed calls for dialogue, saying that could only take place once the violence ends, political prisoners are freed and reforms are adopted.
Egypt urged Assad’s regime Monday to enact reforms to satisfy pro-democracy. “We hope that the Syrians in a peaceful manner resolve their problems,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi told reporters during a trip to India.
“Whatever reforms the people would like, it should be looked at in a positive manner,” he added.

Arabi explained how the so-called “Arab Spring” – pro-democracy movements in North Africa and the Middle East that have challenged autocratic regimes – had changed the expectations of people across the region.
“A wind of change has blown in the Arab world,” he said. “We have already seen changes in the region and there’ll be changes in other countries … it could differ, but change is where people can live in democracy, with good governance, the rule of law and be able to express themselves freely.”