58 countries urge UN to refer Syria to ICC

Fifty-eight countries led by Switzerland on Monday expressed "strong support" for a French proposal to drag Syria before the International Criminal Court (ICC), a move expected to be opposed by Russia and China.

In a letter on behalf of the group, the Swiss ambassador to the UN, Paul Seger, urged the United Nations Security Council to adopt a draft resolution "to send a strong message of political support” to the Syrian people.

"The United Nations -- the Security Council and the wider membership alike -- should be united in acting for justice and accountability for the victims of the conflict in Syria," Seger wrote.

The United States did not sign the letter but supported the French proposal, diplomats told the AFP.

China and Russia, however, will likely veto the measure in a vote expected to take place on Thursday, according to diplomats speaking to the AFP. If the Beijing and Moscow use their veto, it will be the fourth time they have done so on resolutions relating to Syria since the conflict began more than three years ago.

Western powers, lead by the United States, have condemned mounting atrocities by the Syrian government on civilians said to include systematic torture, chemical attacks and the use of “barrel bombs” packed with explosives.

Syria war toll over 162,000

Over 162,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far and more than half the population displaced, according to a new toll published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday.

The Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group that relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it has documented the deaths of 162,402 people including 53,978 civilians of which 8,607 were children.

42,701 members of the armed opposition have been killed, including more than 13,500 fighters from groups like al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The toll includes 61,170 of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, 37,685 from the military and 23,485 from a pro-regime militia. 438 of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, who are fighting alongside the regime, and 1,224 other non-Syrian pro-regime fighters are said to have died too.

There have also been 2,891 unidentified casualties, whose deaths have been confirmed by the Observatory without being able to record their identities.

The last death toll from the Observatory was issued at the beginning of April and stood at just over 150,000 people, meaning that more than 12,000 have been killed since then.

The conflict erupted in March 2011 after peaceful anti-government protests were crushed by authorities, leading to a war that shows no sign of abating three years later, with the international community unable to facilitate a solution due to deeply held conflicts of interest and an unwillingness from participants to engage in meaningful peace talks.