UN human rights chief urges immediate negotiation to end Syria conflict

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Monday there is no obvious pathway out of the Syria crisis except immediate negotiation of concrete steps to end the 30-month-long conflict.

"States, together with the United Nations, must find a way to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table and halt the bloodshed," Pillay said in her opening statement to the Human Rights Council's 24th session, which will last till Sept. 27.

She said the international community is "very late" to take serious joint action to halt the downward spiral in Syria.

Pillay said the number of deaths in the conflict stands at over 100,000, the number of refugees reached 2 million last week and an additional 4 million people are displaced inside Syria.

"This appalling situation cries out for international action, yet a military response or the continued supply of arms risk igniting a regional conflagration, possibly resulting in many more deaths and even more widespread misery," she stressed.

During its 24th session, the 47-member Human Rights Council will hear the presentation of the latest report of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

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