GENEVA, (Reuters) – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called today for the international community to take action to protect the civilian population in Syria from “ruthless repression” as the country slides into civil war.
More than 4,000 people have been killed, including 307 children, in the military crackdown since March and more than 14,000 people are believed to be held in detention, she told an emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“The Syrian authorities’ continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war. In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people,” Pillay said.
“All acts of murder, torture and other forms of violence must be immediately stopped,” she added.
She voiced concern at reports of increased armed attacks by the opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, against the Syrian military and security apparatus.
Syrian army deserters killed eight people in an attack on an intelligence building in the north of the country, an opposition group said on Friday.
Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge, noted that she had already called in August for the Security Council to refer Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
“The need for international accountability has even greater urgency today,” she said.
The 47-member Geneva forum was holding an emergency session on Syria, its third since April, called by the European Union (EU) with backing from the United States and Arab countries including Saudi Arabia.
It followed a report by an independent commission of inquiry, which interviewed 223 victims, witnesses and defectors, which found that security and military forces committed crimes against humanity including executions, rape and torture.
