U.N. report finds Syrian rights violations

Snipers and helicopter gunships are being used by the Syrian regime to repress an uprising in the country, the U.N. human rights office said Wednesday. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in a report published Wednesday, said more than 1,100 people were killed and another 10,000 detained since opposition to Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad began in March. "The alleged breaches of the most fundamental rights on such a broad scale require thorough investigation and, with respect to the perpetrators, full accountability," her report said. Pillay in her report said grievances focused initially on basic rights and government complaints but evolved to focus on a rejection of an oppressive regime. Her office said it had information to suggest that Syrian security forces had tortured detainees, "resulting in deaths in custody in some cases." The U.N. Security Council is under fire for its perceived silence on the issue. Pillay said her office had a "considerable amount" of information that indicated Syrian authorities were in routine violation of conventional human rights laws. "The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians," the report said. Pillay said she planned to provide further details of the situation in Syria later this year. The country's official news agency attributes much of the violence to thugs and foreign elements.