You're reading: UN rights chief calls for sparing civilians in Syria’s Aleppo

GENEVA — U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay appealed to both Syrian government forces and rebels on Friday to spare civilians in Aleppo, voicing deep concern at the "likelihood of an imminent major confrontation" in the city.

“Civilians and civilian objects – including homes and other
property, businesses, schools and places of worship – must be
protected at all times. All parties, including the government
and opposition forces, must ensure that they distinguish between
civilian and military targets,” Pillay said in a statement.

She said a “discernable pattern” had emerged as President
Bashar al-Assad’s forces attempt – using intense shelling, tank
fire and door-to-door searches – to clear areas of Syria’s
biggest urban centre they say are occupied by insurgents.

“All this, taken along with the reported build-up of forces
in and around Aleppo, bodes ill for the people of that city,”
Pillay said, adding that such attacks were also continuing in
two other major cities, Homs and Deir al-Zor.

Pillay cited unconfirmed reports of atrocities including
executions and shooting of civilians by snipers during recent
fighting in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Her office had also been receiving an increasing number of
reports of opposition fighters torturing or executing prisoners.

“Murder and wilful killing, whether committed by government
or opposition forces, may constitute crimes against humanity or
war crimes. Torture, likewise, is prohibited under all
circumstances,” said Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge.

She believed that crimes against humanity and war crimes
have been, and continue to be, committed in Syria. “Those who
are committing them should not believe that they will escape
justice,” Pillay said.

She also voiced concern at reports that unarmed prisoners
had been killed in the central prisons of Aleppo and Homs during
uprisings in the past week, in violation of international law.

Pillay called for an investigation by independent experts
into the incidents, echoing an appeal by Human Rights Watch.

The New York-based group on Friday quoted “Samir”, an inmate
in Homs central prison, as saying that after a prisoner riot on
July 21, government forces surrounded the facility and fired
live rounds and tear gas, killing at least seven inmates.