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U.N. Human Rights Chief Calls for Syria Probe

HeadlineJun 16, 2011

The United Nations’s top human rights official is calling for a full probe of the Syrian government’s crackdown on protesters opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking before the U.N. Human Rights Council, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Assad’s regime had committed a number of unlawful abuses.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay: “I am gravely concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crises that the country is facing. Once again, I call upon the Syrian government to halt this assault on its own people, to desist from using excessive force and to respect its obligations under international human rights law. I remind the Syrian authorities that violations of international law are serious crimes for which perpetrators can be held accountable.”

Pillay’s report affirms estimates that more than 1,100 people have been killed and some 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown.

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