UN High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, once again urged the Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for the state's brutal clamp down of anti-government protest.
The UN estimates over 5000 people have been killed.
Highlighting the systematic and widespread attack on civilians, Pillay asserted that the state's actions "constituted crimes against humanity".
Addressing a closed session of the UN Security Council on Monday, Pillay said,
"I encouraged this Council (last August) to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. Four months later, the situation in Syria has deteriorated and gross violations have been committed with impunity. The need for international criminal accountability has acquired ever greater urgency,"
"It is based on the evidence and the widespread and systematic nature of the killings, the detentions and the acts of torture that I felt that these acts constituted crimes against humanity and I recommended that there should be a referral to the International Criminal Court,"
"Inaction by the international community will embolden Syrian authorities, and ensure perpetrators go unpunished."
