HRW Urges EU to Freeze Assets of Syria State Institutes

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said it had urged the European Union to freeze the assets of the Syrian National Oil Company, Syrian National Gas Company, and the Central Bank of Syria until Damascus "ends gross human rights abuses against its citizens."

"Syria’s authorities are still killing their own people despite multiple efforts by other countries, including former allies, to make them stop," said Lotte Leicht, EU director at the New York-based HRW.

"It’s time to show the government that Europeans won’t help to fund its repression."

Syria has repeatedly said it is battling "armed gangs" -- a claim denied by rights groups who say the crackdown has killed 1,827 civilians since mid-March, while 416 security forces have also died.