Washington and its allies will hold Syria to account for "brutal reprisals" against protesters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.
However, she stopped short of saying President Bashar al-Assad should go. Ms Clinton, in Greenland for talks with foreign ministers from other countries with Arctic territory, said the United States and its allies were looking for ways to raise pressure on Mr Assad to agree to democratic reforms to end a seven-week uprising.
"President Assad faces increasing isolation and we will continue to work with our international partners in the EU and elsewhere on additional steps to hold Syria responsible for its gross human rights abuses," she said.
"I think it's fair to say that we're going to hold the Syrian government accountable."
The Obama administration has been sharply criticised by human rights groups and others for what they say has been a tepid response to Syria's unrest following much stronger US support for popular uprisings in Egypt and Libya.
The United States, like Europe, has imposed economic sanctions on a handful of senior Syrian officials deemed most responsible for the violence, not yet including Mr Assad himself.
The response contrasts notably with Libya, where US and European forces are carrying out air strikes they say will not end until leader Muammar Gadafy leaves power.
Asked if Mr Assad had lost his legitimacy to lead Syria, Ms Clinton demurred but said the United States had watched with "great consternation and concern as events have unfolded under his leadership".
"Despite overwhelming international condemnation, the Syrian government continues to exact brutal reprisals against its own citizens," she said, citing unlawful detention, torture, and denial of medical care to wounded persons.
Her comments came as an international jurists' body said Syrian authorities have killed more than 700 people and rounded up thousands while shelling cities indiscriminately in their military crackdown on protesters.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a Geneva-based panel of senior lawyers and judges from around the world, today said attacks by security forces on civilians amounted to crimes under international law.
The group said it had received accounts of the crackdown from lawyers and human rights defenders within Syria. Syria has barred foreign journalists since launching its crackdown on protests, making independent accounts hard to obtain.
"More than 700 people have reportedly been unlawfully killed and hundreds subjected to enforced disappearances since the Syrian authorities began their crackdown on 15 March in Deraa, Homs, Banias and other cities," the ICJ said in a statement.
"The ICJ continues to receive credible reports indicating that bodies have been left in the streets for days and the injured blocked from accessing medical facilities," it said.
"In addition, a number of people trying to leave the country have been tracked down and prevented from doing so by security services at the borders."
Syrian forces spread through southern towns today and tightened their grip on two other cities, broadening their military crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government.
Reuters