Geneva Institute for Human Rights

With a resounding majority, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted on December 2 to condemn the continued abuses by the Syrian authorities as part of its violent crackdown against protesters.

The 47-member body adopted the resolution in favor during a special session in Geneva to discuss the report of the independent international commission of inquiry, which was released earlier in the week. The text also established a mandate of a Special Rapporteur, or investigator, on the situation of human rights in Syria. Only four countries--China, Cuba, Ecuador and Russia--voted against the resolution, while six others abstained.

The vote came a day after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay declared that Syria was in a state of civil war, as the death toll from nearly nine months of protests rose to more than 4,000 people and increasing numbers of soldiers were reported to have defected to join an armed uprising. "As soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms, I said this in August before the Security Council, that there’s going to be a civil war. And at the moment that’s how I am characterizing this," she said. More than 14,000 people are reported to be in detention as a result of the crackdown, at least 12,400 have sought refuge in neighboring countries, and tens of thousands have been internally displaced, added Pillay. She reiterated an earlier call for the Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

For full text of Pillay's remarks, please see:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Media.asp...