REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BERLIN - More than 50 countries have backed a call for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, a move that would open the way for war crimes prosecutions. A draft of the letter obtained Friday by the Associated Press says the situation in Syria should be referred to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal "without exceptions and irrespective of the alleged perpetrators."

"At the very least, the council should send out an unequivocal message (...) announcing that it intends to refer the situation to the ICC unless a credible, fair and independent accountability process is being established in a timely manner" by Syria, it continues.

The letter cites the findings of a UN expert panel documenting summary executions, torture and sexual violence that has occurred since the start of the uprising in March 2011. It also notes repeated appeals by the UN's top human rights official and resolutions by the global body's Human Rights Council calling for UN referral.

The draft letter was signed by Switzerland's ambassador to the United Nations in New York on behalf of dozens of countries including Britain and France, two of the Security Council's five permanent members. The other three permanent members — the United States, China and Russia — had not signed the draft.