“Let me conclude by emphasizing the importance of holding perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Council in Geneva as she presented the findings of an earlier mission by her Office covering the period from 15 March to 15 July, which was refused entry into Syria and based its report of first-hand interviews conducted with victims and witnesses.
Ms. Pillay, who last week urged the Security Council to consider referring the “pattern of widespread or systematic human rights violations by Syrian security and military forces” to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, summarized a litany of Government abuses ranging from murder, enforced disappearances, deprivation of liberty and the torture even of children to an apparent “shoot-to-kill” policy against protesters with snipers posted on rooftops.
“The international community has the duty not to allow these violations to go unpunished and to assess whether some of these violations may constitute crimes against humanity,” the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan Méndez, told the Council.
“If we are serious about combatting human rights violations, we should not turn a blind eye to these egregious acts. We believe that those bearing the highest responsibility for such violations should be referred to the highest instances to be prosecuted and judged,” he said, speaking on behalf of the heads of various Council bodies.