Pillay renews call to refer Syria to world criminal court

With more than 60,000 people killed in the conflict in Syria, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has reiterated the call for the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The lack of consensus on Syria and the resulting inaction has been disastrous and civilians on all sides have paid the price. We will be judged against the tragedy that has unfolded before our eyes,” Pillay said during the Security Council’s thematic debate on Protection of Civilians on 13 February in New York.

She said that referring Syria to the ICC could have a very significant preventive effect because it “would send a clear message to both the government and the opposition that there will be consequences for their actions”.

Commenting on the situation in Mali, the UN human rights chief said that the protection of human rights is key to stabilizing the situation. “My Office is deploying human rights officers in the country, and the first arrived in Bamako at the end of last week,” she revealed.

Pillay also addressed the human rights situations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka

13 February 2013