• Says ex-president Assad and others should be brought to account
  • Turk hopes for inclusive dialogue after early cooperation
  • Calls for states to halt arms flows to conflicts
The UN human rights chief called on Monday for accountability for perpetrators of abuse under toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, but said there was a "huge chance" for an inclusive political transition, and that early signs were promising.

Syrians woke on Monday to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of brutal Assad family rule.

"We will need to make sure that those who are responsible for these violations, be it on the side of the previous government, the president and others, but also all others who are responsible for violations - that they are brought to account," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told a Geneva press briefing, calling for meticulous preservation of evidence.

"(Accountability) is going to be a key piece of the transition, because we cannot afford that we go back to those periods where indeed impunity reigns."

Turk's office pointed to the disappearance of more than 100,000 people during the war alone, and the use of torture and chemical weapons

Syria is not currently a member of the International Criminal Court, although a new government could join it. Russia blocked past attempts at the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the court.

Turk said there was a "huge chance" for inclusive dialogue on the political transition in Syria's new era.

"I hope that within this current environment ... there will be this inclusive, very inclusive dialogue," he said. "There is a huge chance for this to happen. And what we have seen initially is indeed cooperation," he added, citing coordination between Assad's prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, and rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani.
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