This week my office, the UN, released an expert analysis of casualty figures in Syria: at least 191,000 named and listed individuals were killedin the country between March 2011 and April 2014. Many were civilians. It is likely that an uncountable number of unknown people are also among the fallen.
Like so many other current conflicts, the crisis in Syria built up over decades, fed by numerous human rights grievances: deficient or corrupt governance and judicial institutions; discrimination and exclusion; denial of economic and social rights; repression of civil society and public freedoms. And as with other conflicts, these long-standing shortfalls were repeatedly flagged. These festering grievances could – and should – have been addressed.
http://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2014/aug/22/syria-conflict-murderous-summer-united-nations