by Nadim Houry, senior Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch

Given the grave violations that are occurring in Syria, the Security Council has a responsibility to address the ongoing violence.

Unequivocally condemn the Syrian authorities' systematic violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and torture of detainees;

Demand an immediate end to the unlawful use of force and support an investigation into all killings and any unlawful acts of violence;



Support efforts to investigate the systematic, widespread, and government-sanctioned rights violations committed in Syria and prosecute those responsible;



Urge the Syrian government to allow immediate unrestricted access to the OHCHR assessment mission, as specified in Human Rights Council resolution S-16/1; and



Demand that the Syrian government allow immediate access to humanitarian aid groups to Daraa, Jisr Al-Shughur and other cities surrounded by the military, and allow journalists and human rights organizations to work freely in the country.

Since anti-government protests began in March, Syrian security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arbitrarily arrested thousands. The scale of the abuses reported by Syrian human rights organizations and documented by Human Rights Watch , the similarity of violations in many locations, and reports of "shoot-to-kill" orders suggest that these abuses qualify as crimes against humanity.

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