http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13781069Syrian troops trying to quash three months of protests are committing "alleged breaches of the most fundamental rights", says a UN report. The use of live ammunition against mostly unarmed civilians has killed around 1,100 people, says the report. It also documents arrests on a massive scale. Investigators believe as many as 10,000 people have been detained.
President Bashar al-Assad is facing the gravest threat to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty, as unrest that first erupted in the south of the country has now engulfed the north - near the border with Turkey - and is threatening to spread eastwards towards its border with Iraq.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has repeatedly appealed to Syria to let in a humanitarian team make a proper assessment, but the Syrian authorities have refused. But despite being denied access by the Syrian government, the new UN report documents reliable evidence of widespread violations, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
"The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians," says the report. It cites "the excessive use of force in quelling demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, summary executions, torture".