French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has spoken out against the UN Security Council for failing to take a strong stand on the ongoing unrest in Syria.
Speaking to the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, Juppe said,
"Crimes against humanity are being committed in Syria and the leaders of the regime will have to answer for them.
The silence of the Security Council is unacceptable.”
His statement comes as Russia, a long-standing ally of Syrian President Assad, has sent a delegation of lawmakers to the country to try and broker talks between the opposing sides.
See our earlier posts:
Syrian opposition unites as Russian delegates visit (Sep 2011)
US urges Syria’s allies to “get on the right side of history” (Aug 2011)
Meanwhile, the UN said that the death toll in Syria had risen to 2,700 people including at least 100 children.
Deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva,
"Despite the mounting international pressure in the past six months since the start of protests... the bloody crackdown in Syria has intensified."
She also emphasised "the importance of holding perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable".
President Assad’s government claims to be battling “armed terrorist gangs”, since pro-democracy protests erupted in Syria on March 15th.
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