60 die as Syrians vote on new constitution

Nearly 60 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed in fighting over Syria’s future that coincided with a vote on a constitution that could keep Bashar al Assad in power until 2028.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a military bombardment of opposition districts in the city of Homs had killed 12 civilians while security forces killed three people when they opened fire on a demonstration in Damascus.

The British-based Observatory said at least 21 other civilians died and rebels killed at least 23 members of the security forces across Syria, scene of what has become an increasingly militarised revolt against four decades of Assad family rule.

Voting was under way in the referendum on a new constitution, the results of which will be released today and which Assad says will lead to a multi-party parliamentary election in three months, but his opponents see the vote as a sick joke given Syria’s turmoil.

“What should we be voting for, whether to die by bombardment or by bullets? This is the only choice we have,” said Waleed Fares, an activist in the Khalidiyah district of Homs. “We have been trapped in our houses for 23 days. We cannot go out, except into some alleys. Markets, schools and government buildings are closed, and there is very little movement on the streets because of snipers.”

He said a nearby besieged and battered district, Baba Amro, has had no food or water for four days. “Homs in general has no electricity for 18 hours a day.”

With foreign reporters barred from Syria or heavily restricted, witness reports are hard to verify.

The interior ministry acknowledged obliquely that security conditions had disrupted voting, saying: “The referendum on a new constitution is taking place in a normal way in most provinces so far, with a large turnout, except in some areas.”

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, China and Iran, and undeterred by Western and Arab pressure to halt the carnage, says it is fighting foreign-backed “armed terrorist groups”.

Prime minister Adel Safar, asked about opposition calls for a boycott, said this showed a lack of interest in dialogue.

“There are some groups that have a Western and foreign agenda and do not want reforms in Syria and want to divert Syria’s steadfastness,” he told reporters in Damascus.

“We are not concerned with this. We care about... spreading democracy and freedom in the country.

“If there was a genuine desire for reform, there would have been movement from all groups, especially the opposition, to start dialogue immediately with the government to achieve the reforms and implement them on the ground.”

The outside world has been powerless to restrain Assad’s drive to crush the 11-month-old revolt, which has the potential to slide into a sectarian conflict between Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority and the president’s minority Alawite sect.

Unwilling to intervene militarily and unable to get the UN Security Council to act in the teeth of Russian and Chinese opposition, Western powers have imposed their own sanctions on Syria and backed an Arab League call for Assad to step down.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned last night of the perils of any foreign intervention.

“I think there is every possibility of a civil war. Outside intervention would not prevent that, it would probably expedite it,” she said. “We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region: al-Qaeda, Hamas and those who are on our terrorist list claiming to support the opposition. You have many Syrians more worried about what could come next.

“If you bring in automatic weapons, which you can maybe smuggle across the border, what do they do against tanks and heavy artillery? There is such a much more complex set of factors.”

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said the referendum was a “farce”.

In Hama, which has a bloody record of resistance to Ba’athist rule, an activist said nobody was voting.

“We will not vote on a constitution drafted by our killer,” he said.

If the constitution is approved, a foregone conclusion, it would drop an article making Assad’s Ba’ath party the leader of state and society, allow political pluralism, and enact a presidential limit of two seven-year terms. However, the limit will not be enforced retrospectively, meaning that Assad, already in power for 11 years, could serve another two terms after his current one expires in 2014.