International pressure continues to mount on Syria The United Nations Human Rights Council strongly condemned Syria on Friday for “gross and systematic” violations by its forces, including executions that it said may amount to crimes against humanity.
It also established the new post of a special human rights investigator on Syria.
Meanwhile, 15 people were killed early Saturday when a group of army defectors clashed with Syrian troops in Idlib.
On Friday, 14 people were killed by the gunfire of Syrian security forces as thousands marched in protests calling for a buffer zone to protect civilians on Friday.
The 47-member forum adopted a resolution put forward by the European Union (EU) by a vote of 37 states in favor, four against including China and Russia, with six abstentions.
The text called for the “main bodies” of the United Nations to consider a UN report which found that crimes of humanity had been committed and “take appropriate action.”
The meeting was called to address the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, appointed by the Human Rights Council earlier this year, which said 307 children had been killed since the March crackdown.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing slaughter, arbitrary arrest and torture of peaceful protesters,” US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said at the council’s third emergency meeting called to discuss Syria since the repression began in March.
"We've set the stage in a very substantive way for strong action by the UN if other entities choose to take the opportunity," US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told Reuters news agency.
"The evidence we have seen leaves no doubt about the complicity of Syrian authorities and provides a very strong
basis for accountability to go forward in other institutions where that is their mandate."
Asked whether this meant the International Criminal Court, she replied: "Absolutely, including the ICC if the Security Council chooses to refer this matter."
Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, said in a statement: "The resolution, adopted by an overwhelming majority, takes our action to a higher level... As long as the repression goes on, we shall continue to press for strong UN action to ensure the safety and protection of the Syrian people."
Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Syria's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, denounced the resolution as "politicised" and aimed at "closing the doors".
Russia also lambasted the council's findings of gross violations by Syria as "unacceptable" and warned against using them as a pretext for military action.
"The positions [adopted] in the document, which include the veiled hint of the possibility of foreign military intervention under the pretext of defending the Syrian people, are unacceptable to the Russian side," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
A UN-appointed investigative panel found widespread killings and abuse of dissidents since the start of the crackdown, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to the United Nations.
“November was the deadliest month so far with 56 children killed,” said the head of the panel, citing “reliable sources.”
“To date, 307 children were killed by state forces,” Paulo Pinheiro told the Geneva-based body, according to AFP.
At Friday’s summit, Syria’s ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui gave an angry speech that won support from Russia, China and Cuba.
“The Syrian problem is one that can be resolved only by Syrians. It is only a domestic, national solution that is possible,” he said, referring to reforms promised for 2012.
“The solution cannot come from the corridors of the international community,” he said. “It is only resolutions trying to put more oil on the fire.”
Also Friday, US Vice President Joe Biden urged Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad to quit, adding to growing global pressure on the regime over its crackdown on dissidents.
“The United States’ position on Syria is clear,” Biden told the Hurriyet daily. “The Syrian regime must end its brutality against its own people and President Assad must step down so a peaceful transition that respects the will of the people can take place.”
The vice president called for a peaceful transition in Syria, saying: “Lasting stability can come when there is a government that listens to its people and addresses their needs, rather than turning their guns on them.”
Europe and the United States tightened economic sanctions on Syria Thursday, including bans on exporting gas and oil industry equipment and trading Syrian government bonds in an effort to choke off funding.
Biden also praised Turkey’s “real” leadership on Syria under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Turkey has been a real leader on this issue. I commend Prime Minister Erdogan’s recent call for Mr. Assad to step down because of the regime’s treatment of its people, as well as Turkish leaders’ calls for others in the international community to support the Syrian people,” he said.
The United States and its Western allies are leading a campaign to isolate Assad over the bloody crackdown.
Turkey, a traditional NATO ally of Washington, announced tough sanctions on the Syrian regime including a freeze on trade and a break in links with the Syrian central bank.
Ankara also hosts Syrian army defectors and an umbrella opposition group, the Syrian National Council.
Europe has not been quite in its denouncement of Syrian bloodshed.
European Union chair Poland told the UN rights council that those guilty of abuses must be prosecuted.
“Perpetrators of the human rights violations must be held to account, in particular those who committed crimes that may warrant the attention of the International Criminal Court,” ambassador Remigiusz Henczel said.
“This report deserves full consideration not only by this council, but by all relevant U.N. bodies, including the Security Council,” he said.
However Russian ambassador Valery Loshchinin said the global community had been given a “one-sided” report of events in Syria.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay added her voice to widespread fears that the crackdown has brought the country to the brink of civil war.
“The Syrian authorities’ continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a fully fledged civil war,” she told the opening of the meeting.
Pillay repeated a call to the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC.
In its findings published Monday the panel said Syrian security forces committed crimes against humanity, including the killing and torture of children, after orders from the top of Assad’s regime.
It interviewed 223 victims and witnesses, among them defectors from Assad’s security forces who told of shoot-to-kill orders to crush demonstrators and cases of children being tortured to death.
The three-member group tasked by the rights council was not allowed access to Syria and carried out its interviews elsewhere and via Skype, chair Pinheiro told the meeting.
Meanwhile, as many as 15 people were killed by the gunfire of security forces on Friday, Syrian activists told Al Arabiya news. Security forces were trying to break up protests which broke out after Friday prayers in Syria, according to anti-government activists.
Tens of thousands marched in protests across Syria calling for Turkey to create a buffer zone to protect civilians, activists said.
The largest protests were held in the central Homs province and in the northern town of Hama, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“In 17 districts (in the city of) Homs and at least nine neighboring towns, tens of thousands of people called for the creation of a buffer zone to ensure their protection,” Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Witnesses told AFP Syrian troops also fired across the border into Lebanon, wounding three people among refugees who had fled an attack on the village of Tal Kalakh on Friday which the Observatory said left dozens injured.
In the Deir Baalba district of Homs protesters called for the overthrow of President Assad and urged Western powers to impose a buffer zone on Syria’s borders.
Security forces opened fire on protesters, wounding eight in Khalidiya district and four in Bab Sibaa, activists said.
Protesters in rural areas of Homs province also called for “the overthrow of the regime” and for Assad’s execution.
Syrian state television showed pro-Assad demonstrations in Damascus and the port of Latakia on Friday. Crowds waved posters of Assad and Syrian, Russian, and Hezbollah flags.
The Syrian state news agency SANA said reports of civilian deaths in Idlib were “a fabrication.”
Syrian anti-government activists said Tel Kelakh was surrounded by dozens of military vehicles and gunfire was heard.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights  said a clash between army defectors and troops in the northwest of the country left at least 15 people dead.
Saturday's pre-dawn fighting in the city of Idlib killed seven soldiers and policemen, as well as five anti-government army defectors and three civilians.
Until recently, most of the bloodshed in Syria was caused by security forces firing on mainly peaceful protesters, but there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting regime forces.