New Delhi, June 2
Calling for complete cessation of violence in Syria, India joined 40 other nations at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to vote for a resolution strongly condemning the recent Houla massacre that resulted in the death of over 100 civilians.

The 47-member forum, which held an emergency session in Geneva yesterday, adopted the resolution by a vote of 41 states in favour to three against — China, Cuba and Russia — with two abstentions and one delegation absent.

The resolution was put forward by Qatar, Turkey and the United States amid international outrage at the killing of 108 persons, including women and children.

It called for an existing UN team of rights investigators to conduct an independent special inquiry into the El-Houleh incident and “identify those who appear responsible for these atrocities and to preserve the evidence of crimes for possible future criminal prosecutions”.

The vote came a day after the Head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria Gen Robert Mood praised Damascus for the release of detainees discharged on Thursday in the presence of UN observers.

“This is a positive act in these challenging times. It is an encouraging step towards the implementation of Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s Six-Point Plan," said Gen Mood.

The vote is being seen as the strongest condemnation yet of Syria by the Geneva-based rights body, highlighting the increasing global isolation of Damascus.

This is the fourth time that the UNHRC has called an emergency meeting on Syria. In its explanation of the vote, India's High Commissioner for Human Rights to the council Navi Pillay urged the international community to throw its weight behind the six-point Annan Plan and call for immediate probe into the El-Houleh killings besides other rights violations in Syria.

“Otherwise, the situation in Syria might descend into a full-fledged conflict and the future of the country as well as the region could be in grave danger.” Earlier this week, UN Security Council condemned the killings and use of heavy artillery in a residential area.

Meanwhile, one person was killed by gunfire in Damascus provincial town of Kfar Batna. And a dissident was killed during raids by regime forces in the central province of Homs, the Britain-based watchdog said.