Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon blamed the Syrian Government yesterday for much of the "unacceptable levels of violence and abuses" occurring every day in violation of a UN-backed peace plan, Jamaica Observer reports.
In a report to the UN Security Council obtained by the Associated Press, Ban cited the Government's continuing use of heavy weapons, reports of shelling and "a stepped-up security crackdown by the authorities that has led to massive violations of human rights by government forces and pro-government militias".
Ban lamented that there has been only "small progress" on implementing the six-point plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, who is scheduled to brief the Security Council on Wednesday. Ban called on the Government to keep its pledge to immediately stop the violence, pull heavy weapons and troops out of populated areas, allow humanitarian workers to help needy civilians and end human rights abuses.
The secretary-general said 271 of the 300 unarmed UN military observers authorised by the Security Council to help end the 15-month conflict are on the ground, and their deployment in key cities "appears to be having a calming effect".
Nonetheless, he said, "the overall level of violence in the country remains quite high" with daily incidents causing a large number of deaths and injuries, though at a lower scale than immediately before April 12 when a cease-fire was supposed to take effect.
