United Nation’s rights chief urges ICC referral of Syria crimes, says 307 children now killed - The Washington Post

United Nation’s rights chief urges ICC referral of Syria crimes, says 307 children now killed - The Washington Post

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GENEVA — Syrian authorities cracking down on opposition protesters have killed at least 307 children, the United Nation’s human rights chief said Friday, urging world powers to refer these and other allegations of Syrian “crimes against humanity” to the International Criminal Court.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said fresh reports from Syria – including the updated death toll for children from less than a week ago – reinforced the need for the Security Council to submit the situation in the country to the Hague-based court.

“In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people,” Pillay told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad – trying to defeat an 8-month-old revolt challenging his autocratic rule – faces widespread international condemnation at the growing death toll.

A draft resolution backed by African, European, Asian, Arab and American members of the 47-nation rights council calls for the establishment of a special investigator on Syria, but leaves open the issue of whether the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful arm, should refer the country to the ICC.

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