The Syrian government continues its assault on the city of Homs in an effort to retake a key center of opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The attack on Homs came less than a week after Assad accepted an Arab League peace plan to stop the violence. Syrian opposition leaders are meeting with the Arab League in Cairo today. Speaking in Geneva, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the United Nations’ new estimate of 3,500 deaths in the Syrian popular uprising is a conservative figure.

Ravina Shamdasani: “The brutal crackdown on dissent in Syria has so far claimed the lives of more than 3,500 Syrians. More than 60 people are reported to have been killed by military and security forces since Syria signed the peace plan sponsored by the League of Arab States, including at least 19 on Eid al-Adha on Sunday. You will find that our estimate of the death toll is relatively conservative compared to what others are saying, and this is because we rely on corroborated information for it, from credible sources on the ground, inside and outside Syria.”