Siege is crime of historic proportions, says UN chief

The siege and bombing of eastern Aleppo constitute “crimes of historic proportions,” the UN’s top human rights official said yesterday.

Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein made the comments at a special UN Human Rights Council session on Aleppo, called by Britain. The session was seeking a resolution condemning the violations in the Syrian city.

Since Thursday, Russia and the Syrian government have paused their monthslong intensive bombing campaign in an attempt to encourage rebels to surrender and civilians to leave.

But plans to evacuate hundreds of wounded civilians during the “humanitarian pause” were scuppered by ongoing security concerns. The regime blamed rebel forces. Nadia Massih in Beirut