At least 31 Syrians were killed Sunday in bloodshed that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep President Bashar Al-Assad in power until 2028, but the opposition boycotted the vote and clashes were reported across the country. Human rights campaigners reported blasts in Homs, Hama, Deir Al-Zor, Deraa and some smaller towns caught up in an almost year-long uprising against four decades of Assad family rule. “No one is going to vote,” said activist Omar from Baba Amro district of Homs, which Assad's forces have bombarded and besieged for more than three weeks. “This was a constitution made to Bashar's tastes and meanwhile we are getting shelled and killed,” he said. “More than 40 people were killed today and you want us to vote?” 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. “Baba Amro has had no food or water for three days,” Fares said of another besieged and battered district in the city. “Homs in general has no electricity for 18 hours a day.” He said people in opposition areas of Homs had wanted to burn copies of the new constitution in protest at the referendum, but it was too dangerous to venture out of doors. “They want to force people to vote in this doctored, so-called referendum,” activist Mohammad Al-Homsi said from Homs. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was still unable to evacuate distressed civilians from Baba Amro . After a day of talks with Syrian authorities and opposition fighters, it said there were “no concrete results”. “We continue our negotiations ... we will be able to enter Baba Amro to carry out our life-saving operations,” spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva. American correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the bombardment of Homs last week.
