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| U.N. Rights Chief Urges Faster Action to End Fighting in Syria | U.N. Rights Chief Urges Faster Action to End Fighting in Syria |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| GENEVA — Navi Pillay, the top United Nations human rights official, called Friday for “much greater urgency” in efforts to end the conflict in Syria, saying massacres carried out in recent days should spur international action. | GENEVA — Navi Pillay, the top United Nations human rights official, called Friday for “much greater urgency” in efforts to end the conflict in Syria, saying massacres carried out in recent days should spur international action. |
| “The increasingly brutal nature of the conflict makes international efforts to halt the bloodshed imperative,” Ms. Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement in Geneva. Efforts by the United States and Russia to convene an international conference on ending the two-year civil war announced this week are welcome, Ms. Pillay said, “but we need a much greater sense of urgency.” | “The increasingly brutal nature of the conflict makes international efforts to halt the bloodshed imperative,” Ms. Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement in Geneva. Efforts by the United States and Russia to convene an international conference on ending the two-year civil war announced this week are welcome, Ms. Pillay said, “but we need a much greater sense of urgency.” |
| Ms. Pillay drew attention to images of piles of bodies, including infants and small children, that purport to show the killing of dozens of civilians by pro-government militiamen in the village of Bayda and elsewhere in the Baniyas area this month. She said she believed that war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed. | |
| She also warned that a buildup of government forces and militia troops in the western Qusayr area near the border with Lebanon appeared to presage a government offensive and that residents were fleeing out of fear of further massacres. “We’re worried too,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Ms. Pillay. “These kind of killings have not been a one-off; they’ve been repeated very savagely.” | She also warned that a buildup of government forces and militia troops in the western Qusayr area near the border with Lebanon appeared to presage a government offensive and that residents were fleeing out of fear of further massacres. “We’re worried too,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Ms. Pillay. “These kind of killings have not been a one-off; they’ve been repeated very savagely.” |
| Ms. Pillay’s statement reflected concern that the tepid international response to reports of the Bayda massacre showed that outrage outside Syria was fading under the relentless barrage of horror stories from the country. | Ms. Pillay’s statement reflected concern that the tepid international response to reports of the Bayda massacre showed that outrage outside Syria was fading under the relentless barrage of horror stories from the country. |
| “There needs to be a careful investigation of each and every incident like this,” Ms. Pillay said of the latest massacre reports. “We should not reach the point in this conflict where people become numb to the atrocious killing of civilians.” | “There needs to be a careful investigation of each and every incident like this,” Ms. Pillay said of the latest massacre reports. “We should not reach the point in this conflict where people become numb to the atrocious killing of civilians.” |
| United Nations investigators are receiving consistent testimony that government forces are deliberately targeting hospitals, pharmacies, bakeries, schools and other sources of life-sustaining support, and that they are shelling and rocketing civilian areas regardless of whether they had a minimal or heavy rebel presence, she said. | United Nations investigators are receiving consistent testimony that government forces are deliberately targeting hospitals, pharmacies, bakeries, schools and other sources of life-sustaining support, and that they are shelling and rocketing civilian areas regardless of whether they had a minimal or heavy rebel presence, she said. |
| “But the disgraceful disregard for the protection of civilians is not restricted to the government side,” she added. “The scope of violations by antigovernment armed groups has also increased alarmingly.” | “But the disgraceful disregard for the protection of civilians is not restricted to the government side,” she added. “The scope of violations by antigovernment armed groups has also increased alarmingly.” |
| Opposition attacks in Damascus, the Syrian capital, have killed and wounded dozens of civilians, she said, and abductions by the radical Nusra Front appear to be increasing. She expressed particular concern about reports that some rebel fighters are forcing women into marriage. | Opposition attacks in Damascus, the Syrian capital, have killed and wounded dozens of civilians, she said, and abductions by the radical Nusra Front appear to be increasing. She expressed particular concern about reports that some rebel fighters are forcing women into marriage. |
| The British prime minister, David Cameron, echoed some of Ms. Pillay’s sense of urgency after meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russian on Friday. | |
| "We urgently have to do more for the sake of people in Syria to break the vicious cycle that threatens to destroy Syria and that threatens to export violence and extremism around the world,” Mr. Cameron said after the meeting in Sochi, Russia, which will be the site of next year’s Winter Olympics. “As the president said, these have been good talks, purposeful talks. I believe we’ve made some real progress." | |
| He suggested that there had been progress toward a reconciliation with Russia on how to secure an end to the bloodshed. | |
| “It’s no secret that we have had differing views on how best to handle the situation but we share fundamental aims: to end the conflict, to stop Syria fragmenting, to let the Syrian people choose who governs them and to prevent the growth of violent extremism,” he said. | |
| He added, “The president and I have agreed that as permanent members of the U.N., we must help to drive this process, working with partners in the region and beyond, not just bringing the regime and opposition together at one negotiating table, but Britain, Russia, America and other countries helping shape a transitional government that all Syrians can trust to protect them.” | |
| But Mr. Putin, who has insisted repeatedly that any change in power must be determined by the Syrian people, said only that there was agreement on wanting “a swift end to the violence and the start of a peace process and we both want to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.” | |
| Russia’s emphasis on preserving Syria’s soverignty has been a consistent refrain in its opposition to military intervention in the Syrian conflict and its opposition to any Western-led effort to remove Mr. Assad from power; Russia has instead insisted that the two sides negotiate a settlement. | |
| Mr. Putin allowed that at Mr. Cameron’s “initiative,” they had “discussed the possible scenarios that could bring about positive development of this process, and examined the possible joint steps we could take.” | |
David M. Herszenhorn contributed reporting from Moscow. |