UN rights chief calls for int’l action to protect Syrians

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.