“The accounts Syrian refugees have given of the torture methods used in Syria have profoundly appalled me. There seems no limit to the Assad regime’s brutality against its own citizens.

I call on the authorities in Damascus to end the violence against their own people immediately and clear the way for peaceful change.

Given the cruelty of the Syrian regime, I appeal to Russia to give up its opposition to a clear and unequivocal resolution of the UN Security Council.”