Members of ‘Free Syrian Army’ raped, killed girl in Syria, UN official says

“The International Federation of Human Rights interviewed a Syrian man who witnessed the kidnapping of a young girl by elements of the Free Syrian Army,” Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura told the UN Security Council in a Thursday meeting.
 
    “The girl was raped, and then killed. Her body was thrown in front of her house,” Bangura added, calling for an end to such war crimes in Syria.
 
 
Meanwhile, Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari also slammed unfulfilled promises of humanitarian assistance issued by countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, describing them as “media propaganda.”
 
Also on Thursday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said 6.8 million people out of a 20.8 million population need humanitarian assistance in Syria.
 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that the number of refugees could exceed 3.5 million by the end of 2013.
 
Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in Syria in March 2011. Damascus has repeatedly called for dialogue to end the violence.
 
On April 14, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi urged all Syrians to participate in the country’s upcoming national dialogue to find a way out of the crisis.
 
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also issued a new general amnesty decree for crimes committed in the country before April 16, 2013.