UN accuses Damascus of crimes against humanity
A report by the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria says senior Syrian government officials and leaders of the country's military and security forces ordered mass atrocities, killings and torture (including children) and sexual abuse on prisoners. The United States and the European Union prepare new sanctions. The matter will soon reach the UN Security Council.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – A United Nations Commission has released a new report accusing senior Syrian government officials and leaders of the country's military and security forces of ordering mass atrocities, killings and torture (including children) and sexual abuse on prisoners in an effort to crush anti-government protests since March. The total death toll tops 3,500 with tens of thousands of people in prison.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria released its report on Monday in Geneva, increasing the pressures on the Syrian government to stop its bloody crackdown.
The document itself comes a day after the Arab League decided to impose sanctions on Damascus and two days before the United States and the European Union tighten their own measures against the Syrian regime.
The Commission, which did not visit Syria because Syrian authorities refused to issue its members an entry visa, interviewed 223 people, including defectors from President Bashar al-Assad's security forces who told of shoot-to-kill orders against demonstrators and cases of children being tortured to death.
Government forces have killed at least 256 children as of early November, with some boys sexually tortured.
"The commission believes that orders to shoot and otherwise mistreat civilians originated from policies and directives issued at the highest levels of the armed forces and the government," the Commission said in its report.
“Members of the Syrian army and security forces have committed crimes against humanity in their repression of a largely civilian population in the context of a peaceful protest movement,” Commission chairman Paulo Pinheiro noted.
The Commission’s report also quoted a former soldier who said he decided to defect after witnessing an officer shoot a two-year-old girl in the city of Latakia, then claim he killed her so she would not grow up to be a demonstrator.
Following the report and the Arab League’s decisions, the United States and Germany are set to ask the UN Security Council to take finally "decisive action" against Syria's atrocities.
Significantly, pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat said in an editorial today that Arab League sanctions “are not enough and the al-Assad killing machine will not stop. It is also certain that the regime itself will now begin to run the black market in Syria after the implementation of these sanctions, as Saddam Hussein’s regime did during the international sanctions imposed upon it.”
Roads between Iraq and Syria are not expected to become the main smuggling routes.
“Therefore, the best thing the Arabs can do today to protect the Syrians is to take the battle to the Security Council.” (PD)
The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria released its report on Monday in Geneva, increasing the pressures on the Syrian government to stop its bloody crackdown.
The document itself comes a day after the Arab League decided to impose sanctions on Damascus and two days before the United States and the European Union tighten their own measures against the Syrian regime.
The Commission, which did not visit Syria because Syrian authorities refused to issue its members an entry visa, interviewed 223 people, including defectors from President Bashar al-Assad's security forces who told of shoot-to-kill orders against demonstrators and cases of children being tortured to death.
Government forces have killed at least 256 children as of early November, with some boys sexually tortured.
"The commission believes that orders to shoot and otherwise mistreat civilians originated from policies and directives issued at the highest levels of the armed forces and the government," the Commission said in its report.
“Members of the Syrian army and security forces have committed crimes against humanity in their repression of a largely civilian population in the context of a peaceful protest movement,” Commission chairman Paulo Pinheiro noted.
The Commission’s report also quoted a former soldier who said he decided to defect after witnessing an officer shoot a two-year-old girl in the city of Latakia, then claim he killed her so she would not grow up to be a demonstrator.
Following the report and the Arab League’s decisions, the United States and Germany are set to ask the UN Security Council to take finally "decisive action" against Syria's atrocities.
Significantly, pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat said in an editorial today that Arab League sanctions “are not enough and the al-Assad killing machine will not stop. It is also certain that the regime itself will now begin to run the black market in Syria after the implementation of these sanctions, as Saddam Hussein’s regime did during the international sanctions imposed upon it.”
Roads between Iraq and Syria are not expected to become the main smuggling routes.
“Therefore, the best thing the Arabs can do today to protect the Syrians is to take the battle to the Security Council.” (PD)
.png)
See also
