UN rights chief criticises international community for tardiness on Syria

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday slammed the international community for being “very late” in acting to stop the ongoing violence in Syria which has killed more than 100,000 people. Speaking at the 24th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Monday in a speech in Geneva, “This is no time for powerful states to continue to disagree on the way forward or for geopolitical interests to override the legal and moral obligation to save lives by bringing this conflict to an end.” The suffering in Syria “cries out for international action,” said Pillay. Pillay noted, "the use of chemical weapons in Syria seems to be in little doubt, even if the circumstances and the party responsible remain to be clarified." There was no easy or obvious route out of Syria’s nightmare except for the negotiation of immediate steps to end the conflict, explained Pillay, adding that countries needed to find a way together with UN to bring the parties to the negotiating table and to stop the bloodshed. Pillay slammed the international community for being “very late” in acting to stop the violence in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 people. Evaluating international human rights issues, Pillay also mentioned the violence in Egypt, saying that she would send a letter to Egyptian authorities so as to establish a regional office in Cairo to support all kinds of efforts for providing humanitarian rights for all Egyptians.