UN rights council to discuss Syria violence
A UN report alleged crimes against humanity by security forces against civilians
The UN Human Rights Council is due to hold an emergency meeting in Geneva to discuss the situation in Syria.
A report for the UN earlier this week said security forces had committed crimes against humanity in their crackdown on anti-government protests.The council is aiming to put pressure on Syria to end the violence, says a BBC correspondent in Geneva.
UN officials say they fear Syria is sliding into civil war as more army deserters join the opposition movement.
There is unusual unity among council member states, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva, with Arab nations, Europe and the US all expected to ask the UN Security Council to act on Syria's alleged crimes against humanity.
"The council session is important... to get to the Security Council and also to get the message to those who are holding back on drastic action by the Security Council, so they will also understand this is serious," said UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.
Ms Pillay has called in the past for the Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Russia and China have blocked moves in the Security Council to condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government over the crackdown on protests.
The two countries have ruled out a Libya-style military intervention in Syria, which was mounted under a UN mandate to protect civilians from security forces suppressing anti-government protests.
'On the cusp'
On Thursday, the European Union tightened sanctions against Mr Assad's government, placing bans on exporting gas and oil industry equipment to Syria and trading Syrian government bonds.
It also expanded a blacklist of companies and individuals which face assets freezes and travel bans.
On the weekend the Arab League imposed sanctions on Syria.
Speaking on Thursday, Ms Pillay said at least 4,000 people had been killed in Syria since mid-March, when anti-government protests began.
"But really, the reliable information coming to us is that it is much more than that," she said.
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Human Rights Council findings
- Security forces guilty of systematic human rights violations
- Soldiers were ordered to "shoot to kill" unarmed demonstrators
- Pattern of summary executions, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances
- Extensive practice of torture indicate state-sanctioned policy
- Men and boys sexually abused at military facilities
- At least two children killed as a result of torture by security forces
She warned the country could be on the verge of a civil war.
"I have said that as soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms, I said this in August to the Security Council, that there's going to be a civil war," Ms Pillay said."It's a question of studying the report to see the extent of what they call the opposition forces in order to reach the characterisation of armed conflict."
Later, her spokesman Rupert Colville said Syria was "on the cusp" of civil war.
A UN report by an independent panel released on Monday said civilians - including children - have been murdered, tortured and sexually assaulted as security forces try to stem anti-government protests.
The Syrian government says it is fighting armed gangs.
On Thursday, Syria's main opposition bloc, Syrian National Council (SNC), and soldiers who have defected to form the Free Syrian Army (FSA) agreed to co-ordinate their actions against President Assad.
After the two groups' first meeting in Turkey, the SNC said the FSA had agreed to cut back attacks on government forces.
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