联合国人权理事会星期五将在日内瓦举行一次紧急会议，讨论上星期叙利亚霍拉镇包括男人，妇女和小孩在内的108人惨遭屠杀事件。
预计，联合国人权理事会将确认叙利亚政府至少应为这108人的死亡负部分责任。在这108名死者中，将近一半是儿童。
联合国人权理事会星期四送交成员国传阅的决议草案谴责这次屠杀事件，并指出这场屠杀涉及叙利亚政府军用大炮和坦克炮轰居民区。决议草案谴责对平民使用武力，并敦促叙利亚政府立即停止所有暴力行动。
预计，联合国人权理事会还将要求对这次屠杀展开调查。国际社会对这一事件感到愤怒，并重新努力争取持续15个月的叙利亚冲突。
叙利亚政府星期四说，霍拉镇屠杀是反对派武装所为，并说反对派武装袭击那些不肯参加反政府抗议活动的家庭。但是，美国官员立即表示拒绝接受这种说法。
The United Nations' human rights body is holding an emergency session Friday in Geneva to discuss last week's slaughter of 108 of men, women and children in the Syrian town of Houla.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is expected to place at least partial blame on the Syrian government for the massacre of at least 108 people, nearly half of them children.
A draft resolution circulated Thursday condemned the killings, which it said "involved a series of government artillery and tank shelling of a residential neighborhood." It condemned the use of force against civilians and called for the Syrian government to immediately end all violence.
The council is also expected to call for an investigation into the massacre, which prompted international outrage and rekindled efforts to stem the 15-month-old conflict.
The Syrian government on Thursday blamed the atrocity on armed opposition groups who it said attacked families who would not join anti-government protests. That claim was immediately rejected by U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, opposition activists reported renewed fighting ahead of a rebel commander's deadline for the Syrian government to comply with a U.N.-backed peace plan.
The Local Coordination Committees group said the Free Syrian Army was engaged in "violent clashes" with government forces in the suburbs of Damascus early Friday.
Earlier this week, a general in the Free Syrian Army said his forces will no longer be bound by the U.N. peace plan if the Syrian government fails to take steps to also comply with it by midday Friday.
