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Subscribe to RSSThe United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay, says the death toll in Syria's nine-month crackdown on an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has now passed 5,000. ITV's John Ray reports.
UNITED NATIONS -- More than 5,000 people have died in the nine-month-long Syrian uprising, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Monday.
Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters that she told Security Council members of the dramatic increase in deaths during an afternoon briefing.
The death toll used by the U.N. in recent weeks has been around 4,000.
Pillay said she recommended that the council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, the permanent war crimes tribunal, for investigation of possible crimes against humanity.
Pillay said that at least 300 children are among the dead, and there are thousands of people in detention.
She noted that the last time she briefed the council on Syria, in August, the death toll was at about 2,000.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Pillay's briefing "underscores the urgency of the present moment."
"Through condemnations issued by the U.N. General Assembly and Human Rights Council and bold steps taken by the Arab League and the Government of Turkey, international bodies are starting to match their severe disapproval of Syria's bloody crackdown with concrete steps to bring it to an end," Rice said. "It is past time for the U.N. Security Council to do the same."
The representatives of France, Britain and Portugal also said it was time for the council to take strong action on Syria.
Last month, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the bloodshed in Syria.
"The only way to resolve the situation in Syria is through a Syrian-led political process, and that means dialogue," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
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Perhaps we should invade Syria, install another Islamocracy like we did in Libya & Iraq.
It will only cost another 3 trillion tax payer dollars and the 10% of Syria who are Christians will be driven out of the country like they are in Iraq.
No instead lets let the Assad family kill another 30,000 people...
By the way Libya was a completely International effort with the US playing a small but integral Intelligence gathering mission, and spending very minimal amount of money to save lives. We did not help the Libyan people to install a way of life we in the United States deem proper and correct, that will come with time and maturity like any developing nation. Plus we dont know what will happen in Libya yet, hopefully it wont turn out like Egypt.
5000 is just the begining, we lost 50,000 dead and wounded in our American Revolution. Freedom has always come at great cost.
Libya was Barack Hussein Obama OIL war. BHO said we cannot allow (so-called) "innocent civilians" (carrying military weapons) to be killed in Libya. By BHO leading from behind and not doing any where near what other E.U. countries, BHO is defacto saying "innocent civilians (NOT carrying weapons) is okay to kill. Why? - the answer is simple. Syria has very little oil.
As for Libya (now) being a democracy. No vote has occurred, it is not a democracy. In fact, the country is beginning to be ripped apart. Their are just too many tribes, ethnic groups, religious sects, extremists, etc., trying to be the major power broker. Shooting (in fighting) has all ready began.
Point to ponder for the UN: Since we have Muslims killing Muslim, why isn't the UN asking the 53 countries of the Muslim world to step in? Alternatively, why is it always the US and Europe that has to step in? Why does the UN never ask China, Russia, India, Brazil, etc., to do their part. Wouldn't that "be fair" as Obama would say?
Also, notice that the UN said nothing when, in the 80's, the Muslim brotherhood tried to take over Syria, resulting in (est.) 20,000 dying. Yet, today we are supporting the MB in Egypt.
So how many more must they kill before the World stand up and says NO MORE! 10,000, 50,000, 100,000 or? I mean like the UN is useless because everybody has their own agenda. United Nations HA! Like when? How about never, period. I mean they will build a Hardron Collider and spend Trillions to try to figure out the Big Bang and they will do nothing about the killing of people by tyrants. Tell me how many lives this Collider will save how many it will feed and bring about Peace in the World. When your dead how will smashing atoms together serve Mankind? More money is spent on BS then anything of great matter.
Who cares how many die. It's all a game anyway. How many thousands died in the Iraq war over badly fabricated evidence that anyone with have a brain could see was fake (and yes I called it at the time). How many died in Rwanda, like 800,000? Somalia was a disaster too. Trying to do "something" will far more likely than not just make us new enemies. If people want to kill people they will. If there needs to be a civil war the Syrians need to take care of that themselves. We need to stay out of it.
My point being "The World" can get together and spend trillions on something that 999,999 out of 1,000,000 can care less about but when it comes to shooting down people in the streets just because you can they can't seem to agree on anything to do about it. I am not saying Iraq was the right or wrong thing to do. I am saying if no one did anything about these type of crimes against humanity it will continue. It also could spill over to other countries and with no accountability for these actions. When you say WE do you mean the USA? I was talking about a so called World Organization the UN, which you should know our tax dollars and millions if not billions spent over the last 40 years into this UN. Why have it if it doesn't work? If you isolate yourself from World problems, those same problems will soon become your problems. Do I want the USA to go to war with Syria, hell NO! Do I want people to be shot as they walk down the streets, NO! The problem is that everyone has their own agenda, to bad we can't ALL just get along.
Funny how it is a game of pick and choose. We care to step in and interfere with Libya's civil war, yet ignore Syria's. Could it be that Syria doesn't have as much oil underground?
I think it could be partly due to the powder keg that would erupt if there was international intervention with Syria being a major supporter of terrorists, and Iran being a major supporter of Syria, any major international help would be the flame to ignite it.
I would also think Israel would get the brunt of that barrage of terrorist and state warfare. This isn't as simple as Libya, but I still believe something needs to be done besides sanctions which are all but useless in the short-term.
no oil, no help
There's no way you know the real number of dead, and believe me 5,000 is not even close.
Your statement contradicts itself.
10% of what was killed in order to liberate Iraqi oil.
Let's not forget the real reason Bush/Cheney invaded Iraq at the cost of $1 Trillion tax dollars and over 4,400 American lives.
Fox News -- Greenspan: Oil the Prime Motive for Iraq War
America's elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.
http://tinyurl.com/2726hs
Bush gives new reason for Iraq war
Says US must prevent oil fields from falling into hands of terrorists
http://tinyurl.com/9l3ru
FYI - "We" the US never got one drop of OIL out of Iraq. Where as BHO has insured that China and Italy will now have a dependable source of OIL from Libya. Okay, okay, I know Libya is about to have anothe rround of civil war!
Who cares. None of our business. The real war is at home being waged against the middle class.
This violent homocidal dispute has been going on for nearly a year. What we don't know is WHO these anti govt. protestors are and what they wish to do with Syria after they take control. MOST IMPORTANTLY we do not know the actual percentage of the population who support these protestors. If it is profoundly high, the military would support them. (Be careful of western political games that influence our media).
China and Russia are not stupid and their stance is most likely logical
Navi Pillay.
Is a spy, and she might end up worst than that Iraqi spy who went in Iraq and kill people and sabotage the Iraqi's oil facilities, working for the CIA, now they are claiming that she is a double agent, because her work is now done so they have no more use for her!..
Where was the UN human right group to call got Dick Chaney and George W Bush to be charges with war crime and crime against humanity?. they Slaughter over 2000,000.00 women and children and old people in Iraq. where is the charge. the war was a false war, even the UN itself tell them that they verified that there was no WMD but yet still they went to war and murder so much , and then the UN human right group could not count how much people were killed , because they say it was too many or some other excuse. even though they were in Iraq during the war!.
But they are not in Syria, but they some how can come up with concrete figures!.. any fool would see where this is leading, this is a propaganda campaign to get read of Assad.
Wow, I feel very sorry for Syrians. What can we do but stand and watch as their corrupted leader really angers the majority. Another example why corrupted governments are guaranteed to fail when their citizens don't approve anymore? Nobody is trying to be a wisecrack, they try that here in the USA and you're going to get a million people marching towards the whitehouse with burning sticks. Why does this Assad feel he is exempt? I see a Gilgamesh in every man standing up against this Assad. I bet even the Iraqis will supply the revolution against this evildoer. Sounds like an epic flood of blood rushing towards Assad, a thunder of human consciousness sparked from the Arab Spring' inviting the first-world citizens of planet Earth to be witnesses of Syrias colorful emergence into our freedom-loving lives.