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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSyria crisis: evidence of 'industrial-scale killing' by regime spurs call for war crimes charges
Syrian government officials could face war crimes charges in the light of a huge cache of evidence smuggled out of the country showing the "systematic killing" of about 11,000 detainees, according to three eminent international lawyers.
The three, former prosecutors at the criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, examined thousands of Syrian government photographs and files recording deaths in the custody of regime security forces from March 2011 to last August.
Most of the victims were young men and many corpses were emaciated, bloodstained and bore signs of torture. Some had no eyes; others showed signs of strangulation or electrocution.
The UN and independent human rights groups have documented abuses by both Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels, but experts say this evidence is more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that has yet emerged from the 34-month crisis.
The three lawyers interviewed the source, a military policeman who worked secretly with a Syrian opposition group and later defected and fled the country. In three sessions in the last 10 days they found him credible and truthful and his account "most compelling".
They put all evidence under rigorous scrutiny, says their report, which has been obtained by the Guardian and CNN.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/20/evidence-industrial-scale-killing-syria-war-crimes
I was against any military action in syria. still am, but I always thought that the assad gov't was perpetrating atrocities on a larger scale than the opposing forces. recognizing this doesn't mean supporting military action.
pampango
(24,692 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)will still be some here insisting that it's propaganda.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Which impartial NGO paid for this study? When you see crap like "no eyes", you might consider this a Kuwaiti incubator story....jeeze
pampango
(24,692 posts)And the UN paid for the study.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other human rights organizations have reached the same conclusion. Has any credible organization concluded otherwise? If so, I would love for you to post their study.
Throwing around the "Kuwait incubator story" may be an effective debating tactic, but it does not change the reality of the Syrian regime.
cali
(114,904 posts)hey, do you think there's any faction on DU that I haven't pissed off?
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Just pointing out how you've been misled.
Response to Jesus Malverde (Reply #8)
Jesus Malverde This message was self-deleted by its author.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)The UN did not pay for the report. It appears you FAILED to read the article.
The 31-page report, which was commissioned by a leading firm of London solicitors acting for Qatar,
Oh look.... commissioned by the saudi's lackeys... Propaganda fail!
The same milieu who is funding the fundamentalist jihadist mercenaries in Syria.
cali
(114,904 posts)unlike you and others I don't fucking take an ideological position that fucks with my abilty to assess and reason.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)This is less Kuwaiti baby ward, tastes more like yellow cake.
Please spare us reports on human rights brought to us by despotic gulf monarchies. The dissonance makes my head hurt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar
cali
(114,904 posts)it's fake, honey.
the evidence is compelling and frankly I think it's contemptible as all hell to deny it just because YOU don't want it to be true.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Seeing it's being a bogus and all...
Any report that looks at one aspect of a multidimensional conflict should be suspect.
That the Syrian regime has engaged in war crimes fighting the jihadist is not unusual. Counter insurgency is an ugly business. Just ask James Steele.
BTW calling me HONEY...nice touch...
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/war-crimes-experts-call-syrian-defectors-photographs-direct-evidence-of-assads-killing-machine/
Slightly more skeptical.