BEIRUT —Opposition activists reported that dozens of people were killed in Syria on Thursday as the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned the Syrian government’s “systematic violations of human rights” and backed a plan calling for President Bashar Assad to relinquish power.
The vote by the 193-member body in New York was a symbolic victory for the United States, Turkey, Arab nations and others calling for the ouster of the Syrian leader.
But the move seemed unlikely to make much difference in Syria, where the U.N. says more than 5,000 people have died in the conflict since protests erupted almost a year ago.
Opposition activists reported at least 63 people killed Thursday, including 38 in the rebellious northwestern province of Idlib, where the government is fighting to regain control of territory lost to rebels.
Casualty figures cannot be independently verified in much of Syria, where journalists’ access is limited.
As the nation veers toward civil war, a new government offensive also was reported Thursday in the southern province of Dara, where the rebellion began in March.
The coalition seeking Assad’s ouster had twice been thwarted in the U.N. Security Council, but it found a more receptive audience in a chamber that includes nearly all the world’s governments.
Although the resolution approved Thursday is nonbinding, its supporters hope it will increase pressure on Assad while bestowing additional political and moral authority on the international coalition pushing for him to step down.
“Today, the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message to the people of Syria: The world is with you,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Syria’s U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, denounced the vote as a “shameful” sellout.
