The United Nations human rights office said today (February 10, 2012) that Syrian officials -- who are suspected of committing or ordering crimes against humanity -- should face prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the Reuters website.
"This would give a very, very strong message to those running the show (in Syria)," said a spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.
Pillay will address the UN General Assembly session on Syria being held in New York on February 13.
The UN has stopped issuing a death toll for Syria, because the large number of people killed recently has made it impossible to provide a reliable figure. The UN did say that more than 5,000 people had been killed in Syria as of December 12, 2011, as a result of the 11-month uprising calling for the removal of Bashar al-Assad as president of Syria.
