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Urgent action needed in Syria: UN rights chief

AFP, Geneva, 8 Feb 2012 – UN rights chief Navi Pillay called Wednesday for urgent international action to protect civilians in Syria, as troops continued to shell the city of Homs, a centre of protest in the country.
‘I am appalled by the Syrian government’s wilful assault on Homs, and its use of artillery and other heavy weaponry in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas in the city,’ said a statement from Pillay.
‘The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have fuelled the Syrian government’s readiness to massacre its own people in an effort to crush dissent,’ it added.
Pillay, the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed the ‘extreme urgency for the international community to cut through the politics and take effective action to protect the Syrian population.’
Syria’s army has sharply increased its use of tanks, helicopters, mortars, rockets and gunfire to attack civilians in Homs, according to accounts from local sources, her office said.
There are reports that hospitals are now overwhelmed or inaccessible and people have set up makeshift clinics throughout the city, the statement said.
On Saturday 13 member countries voted for a UN Security Council resolution aimed at giving strong backing to an Arab League plan to end the deadly crackdown.
China and Russia vetoed the action, sparking fierce criticism from Washington which called their rejection a ‘travesty’ and the Syrian opposition accused them of handing President Bashar al-Assad’s regime a ‘licence to kill’.
More than 6,000 people have died in nearly a year of upheaval in Syria, as Assad’s regime seeks to snuff out a revolt that began with protests in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring.
‘In addition to the continuing widespread human rights abuses, I fear the humanitarian situation has significantly deteriorated in many parts of the country in recent months, and especially in Homs, where parts of the city have been largely cut off or encircled for long periods,’ Pillay said.

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