The situation of at least 350,000 civilians besieged in a rebel area near the Syrian capital Damascus is an "outrage," a senior UN human rights official said today. "The shocking images of what appear to be severely malnourished children that have emerged in recent days are a frightening indication of the plight of people in Eastern Ghouta, who are now facing a humanitarian emergency," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. "I remind all parties that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime against humanity and/or a war crime," he added in a statement. Syrian activists recently posted online images purportedly showing a malnourished 1-month-old baby in the government-besieged area of Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus. The baby reportedly died last week. Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the past four years.
