The monthly death toll in Syria has now risen to 5,000, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Friday. Pillay, speaking in New York after briefing the Security Council, said she had urged the 15-nation body to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). “I firmly believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed," Pillay said, adding that “there has been no concrete action by the Council" on the situation in Syria. Pillay said the number of people killed in the country since March 2011 is now more than 60,000. The rights chief said it was her duty to speak up on behalf of the victims, who feel let down by the United Nations, but that she did not get any “indication" that the council would refer Syria to the ICC.
