The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution on Tuesday, that calls for a probe into the Syrian authorities' atrocities against civilians during the country's anti-government protests.
The resolution that was approved by 33 states out of the 47-nation council said the council "strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters and human rights defenders, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, also of children."
The UN's decision comes a day after the remarks of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, who said that more than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the protests in mid-March.
The council also ruled to send a team of international human rights investigators "to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights" in Syria.
China, Russia, Cuba and Ecuador voted against the resolution, citing non-interference into Syria's domestic affairs and said the UN-backed measures were "an unnecessary intervention."
Syria has been rocked by mass protests demanding reforms and the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad for almost six months. Pressure from international powers has mounted to end the crackdown.
