UN weighs urgent debate on Syria
US, Qatar, Turkey ask Human Rights Council to convene session on ways to end Syrian conflict, hold responsible those behind civilian deaths
GENEVA (AP) — The Unites States, Qatar and Turkey have asked the UN’s top human rights body to hold an urgent debate on the ways to end the civil war in Syria, and to hold accountable those responsible for killing thousands of civilians.
Syria’s Ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui objected to Monday’s request, saying it comes from nations that support the rebels who have been battling the regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad since March 2011.
UN Human Rights Council President Remigiusz Henczel says the council will decide Tuesday whether to hold the debate Wednesday.
The UN’s top human rights official, Navi Pillay, said the Syrian government continues to use “indiscriminate and disproportionate force in residential areas” and to directly target schools and hospitals. She said that rebels were also committing “wanton human rights violations.”
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.