Rights watchdog Amnesty International has said that it plans to stage mass rallies in 15 countries on 11 February, the first anniversary of former President Mubarak’s ouster, to express solidarity with Syria.
“This time last year, thousands of people rallied in Trafalgar Square and other cities across the world to show their support for people in Egypt. This year, Amnesty has a live link-up with protesters in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, where a fierce crackdown has resulted in a week of bloodshed,” said Amnesty in a statement published on Wednesday.
Amnesty said that thousands of supporters and activists, trade unionists and others will come together at a mass rally on Saturday in solidarity with peaceful protesters in the Middle East and North Africa, especially in Syria.
Activists said at least 50 people died in Wednesday's shelling of the Syrian city of Homs, which has been under a relentless regime offensive for the past five days. Hundreds are believed to have been killed there since Saturday.
Rights group say more than 6,000 people have died since the outbreak of the uprising in mid-March.
The solidarity protests will be held in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Iceland, Luxembourg, Morocco, Netherlands, Nepal, Norway, Paraguay, Spain and Switzerland, the statement added.
“Human rights were and are at the core of the demands for change in the Middle East and North Africa that have led to the extraordinary events of the last year,” said the Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty.
“On the one-year anniversary of the fall of Hosni Mubarak, we are gathering in public places around the world to demonstrate our solidarity with people across the region who are continuing to stand up to brutal repression with courage and dignity,” he added.
“We also stand in defiance against those who are opposing human rights change — in countries such as Syria, governments are brutally repressing protests.”
