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Syria's war crimes documented

September 17, 2012

Investigators have announced a list of Syrians suspected of war crimes. After his trip to Syria over the weekend, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is in Egypt for talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.

https://p.dw.com/p/16AFq
Residents carry the body a man whom activists say was killed after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to President Bashar Assad fired missiles at Kafr Awaid, near Idlib (Photo: REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout)
Image: Reuters

The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry, led by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, announced "a formidable and extraordinary body of evidence" pointing toward war crimes and rights abuses in Syria that could be used against suspects should the situation arrive in the International Criminal Court.

"Gross violations of human rights have grown in number, in pace and in scale," Pinheiro told diplomats in Geneva on Monday.

Syria war crimes

The investigators also announced an "increasing and alarming presence" of Islamist militants in Syria, some joining the rebels and others operating independently. Their presence tends to radicalize the rebels who have also committeed crimes, according to investigators.

After meeting with President Bashar Assad in Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy, warned that the worsening conflict threatens the region and the world at large.

In Cairo on Monday, Brahimi is expected to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of a Syria "contact group" of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims the conflict has killed more than 27,000 people. The United Nations puts the figure at 20,000.

mkg/kms (AP, AFP, Reuters)