New York, Shawwal 25, 1435, Aug 21, 2014, SPA -- Outgoing UN human rights chief Navi Pillay slamedthe UN Security Council Thursday for placing national considerations above the "collective interest" and noting that current large-scale crises could have been prevented by swift and unified action, dpa reported. In her last briefing to the council, Pillay, whose mandate ends this month after six years in office, rebuked the 15-member council for failing to make "firm and principled decisions" to end conflicts. "Short-term geopolitical considerations and national interest, narrowly defined, have repeatedly taken precedence over intolerable human suffering and grave breaches of - and long-term threats to -international peace and security," Pillay told the council. "I firmly believe that greater responsibility by this council would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. "The human rights chief said that with a growing number of conflicts and challenges globally, national interest needs to be more broadly defined to include collective interest. Pillay warned the council of the unpredictable conflicts unfolding in Syria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Libya, Mali, the Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Ukraine. --SPA 23:47 LOCAL TIME 20:47 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w