U.N. rights chief calls on Syria to stop killings

Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:26am GMT

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GENEVA (Reuters) - The top United Nations human rights official called on Syria on Monday to rein in its security forces and investigate nearly 100 killings of protesters reported over the weekend.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced the escalation of violence in the country and called for detained activists and political prisoners to be released.

"The first step now is to immediately halt the use of violence, then to conduct a full and independent investigation into the killings, including the alleged killing of military and security officers, and to bring the perpetrators to justice," Pillay said in a statement.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Louise Ireland)

<p>United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay looks on before the Special Session of the Human Rights Council on "The situation of human rights in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" at the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva February 25, 2011. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse</p>

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