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UN Rights Council Emergency Session On Syria Opens

August 22, 2011

The UN Human Rights Council has begun an emergency session on Syria.

The session on August 22, called by 24 member states -- including Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- will debate a draft resolution calling for a fuller investigation into rights abuses there.

The meeting was pushed back to the afternoon due to a problem with the meeting room's microphone system.

Rights groups say some 2,200 people have been killed as part of a government-led crackdown aimed at quashing mass protests calling for an end to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

The UN is set to consider whether the government's response amounted to crimes against humanity.

This session closely follows the arrival of a UN humanitarian mission in Damascus.

It also comes a day after Assad warned against foreign interference in an address to the nation.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/un_rights_council_emergency_session_on_syria_opens/24304598.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.