The UN's Volker Turk has condemned days of violence between security forces and fighters loyal to fallen dictator Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations human rights commissioner is calling for an inquiry to investigate the killings of hundreds of civilians in Syria, mostly from the Alawite minority, according to two UK-based monitoring groups. There are also desperate pleas from Syrian-Australian women, thousands of kilometres away - watching, waiting, and hoping for answers. A warning that this content may be distressing for some listeners: