U.N. condemns violence, urges access to aid
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a statement Wednesday condemning as appalling the violence in the Syria conflict and requesting that all combatants permit humanitarian aid to flow unimpeded in the country, where millions of civilians have been uprooted and one third of the housing has been damaged or destroyed.
It was the 15-member council's second action on Syria in less than a week.
The action, known as a presidential statement, lacks the coercive power of a Security Council resolution. But it nonetheless reflected the heightened sense of urgency shared by the Council's diplomats, regardless of their allegiances in the Syrian conflict, about the deteriorating situation in the country.
The statement said the council condemned "the widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Syria authorities, as well as any human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law by armed groups."
It also urged the Syrian authorities to "take immediate steps to facilitate the expansion of humanitarian relief operations, and lift bureaucratic impediments and other obstacles."
NEW YORK TIMES