In this photo taken during a government-organized tour for the media, Georgina Mtanious al-Jammal, the mother of Sari Saoud a 9-year-old boy who was shot dead in Homs three days ago while he was buying cookies from a shop, holds her son's portarit as she mourns at her house, in the village of Kfarbo in Hama province, Syria, on Thursday Dec. 1, 2011. Georgina blamed "armed terrorists" for killing her son. Syria's opposition called a general strike Thursday over President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on an 8-month-old revolt, ramping up efforts to persuade the country's business elite to abandon their long-standing ties to the regime. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
In this photo taken during a government-organized tour for the media, Georgina Mtanious al-Jammal, the mother of Sari Saoud a 9-year-old boy who was shot dead in Homs three days ago while he was buying cookies from a shop, holds her son's portarit as she mourns at her house, in the village of Kfarbo in Hama province, Syria, on Thursday Dec. 1, 2011. Georgina blamed "armed terrorists" for killing her son. Syria's opposition called a general strike Thursday over President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on an 8-month-old revolt, ramping up efforts to persuade the country's business elite to abandon their long-standing ties to the regime. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
GENEVA (AP) ? Syrian authorities cracking down on opposition protesters have killed at least 307 children, the U.N.'s human rights chief said Friday, urging world powers to refer these and other allegations of Syrian "crimes against humanity" to the International Criminal Court.
Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said fresh reports from the country ? including the updated death toll for children from less than a week ago ? reinforced the need for the Security Council to submit the situation in Syria to the Hague-based court.
"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Pillay told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
A draft resolution backed by African, European, Asian, Arab and American members of the 47-nation rights council calls for the establishment of a special investigator on Syria, but leaves open the issue of whether the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful arm, should refer the country to the ICC.
The council's session Friday comes amid mounting international pressure on Syria. The U.N. says the nation is on the verge of civil war, and the Arab League, European Union, Turkey and the United States have all approved measures to sanction the Syrian economy, which relies on oil and tourism.
Russia and China have held back support for the resolution. The two permanent members of the Security Council have condemned the bloodshed, but are staunchly resisting further international pressure on Syria.
Russia's ambassador Valery Loshchinin, whose nation has delivered arms to Syria, claimed Friday that opposition groups are getting weaponry from outside forces.
Pillay said her office had received reliable information that the death toll since the start of the eight-month uprising was now "much more" than 4,000.
"The Syrian authorities' continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war," she said.
An independent panel's report to the Human Rights Council this week said it found widespread evidence of "crimes against humanity" and use of excessive force against civilians.
The chairman of the international commission of inquiry, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a Brazilian professor, told the council Friday that the 307 children killed included 262 boys and 45 girls. He said November was the deadliest month so far ? with 56 children killed.
Syria's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Fayssal al-Hamwi, responded that any U.N. action would only deepen the crisis and Pinheiro's panel "fell into the same trap" as other outside observers siding against the government.
"We strongly condemn the fact that the international commission on Syria was not objective in the report," he told diplomats. "The solution cannot come from the corridors of the international community."
But the U.S. ambassador, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, and other nations likened the Syrian government's actions to mass atrocities.
"Rather than respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, Assad and his inner circle assault a peaceful opposition with escalating violence and terror," Donahoe said.
"The Syrian government stokes fears in minority communities with propaganda about foreign conspiracies and domestic terrorism," she said. "The propaganda is fooling no one: the regime is driving the cycle of violence and sectarianism."
___
Frank Jordans contributed to this report.
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