UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Dialogue Forum on Wednesday called for an "immediate end to all violence" in Syria, urging "all sides to act with utmost restraint."
In a press statement released by the Indian Mission to the UN, which holds the current rotating presidency for the Security Council in the month of August, IBSA voiced "grave concern" as the delegation visited Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday.
During their visit, the IBSA delegation met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who voiced "commitment to the reform process, aimed at ushering in multi-party democracy," said the statement.
The statement said that al-Assad told the delegation that political reforms were being finalized in consultation with the Syrian people and that the national dialogue would continue to give shape to new laws and arrive at a suitable model for the economy.
The process of revision of the constitution would be completed by February/March 2012, al-Assad told the delegation.
"He acknowledged that some mistakes had been made by the security forces in the initial stages of the unrest and that efforts were underway to prevent their recurrence," said the IBSA press statement.
In the press statement, the IBSA delegation expressed "grave concern at the current situation in Syria and condemned violence from all sides."
"They regretted all loss of life and were concerned over the humanitarian impact of the violence," said the IBSA press statement.
IBSA "called for an immediate end to all violence and urged all sides to act with utmost restraint and respect for human rights and international human rights law."
Last Wednesday,the UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement on Syria, condemning Syrian authorities' use of force against civilians and called on all parties to the conflict to stop the violence.
The Council condemned "widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities."
It called for "an immediate end to all violence and urge all sides to act with utmost restraint, and to refrain from reprisals, including attacks against state institutions."
The Council additionally called for full coordination between Syrian authorities and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and requested the secretary-general to update the Council on the situation in Syria within seven days.
The 15-member Council is meeting behind closed doors Wednesday afternoon on the situation in Syria.
Syria has been in unrest since mid March when anti-government protests broke out in the southern province of Daraa and spread to other cities.
The Syrian authorities blamed the unrest on "armed groups and foreign conspiracy" and stressed that it would track down gunmen who have intimidated people and damaged public and private properties.
