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UN human rights forum to hold urgent meeting on Syria

The Associated Press Published Friday, February 24, 2012 6:41AM EST Last Updated Saturday, May 19, 2012 7:33AM EDT

In this Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, flames rise from a house from Syrian government shelling, at Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs province, Syria. (Local Coordination Committees in Syria)

Text:

GENEVA - The UN's top human rights forum will hold an urgent meeting on Syria next week.

The president of the UN Human Rights Council says the 47-nation body will stage the emergency debate on Tuesday.

Laura Dupuy Lasserre spoke to reporters in Geneva on Friday.

The meeting will hear from a panel of UN rights experts who published a report Thursday concluding that Syrian government officials were responsible for "crimes against humanity" committed by security forces against opposition members.

The panel said it has compiled a confidential list of top level Syrian officials who could face prosecution over the atrocities.

The UN says at least 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since March, but activists say the number is likely much higher.