War Crimes in Syria

Navi Pillay

A United Nations human rights investigation revealed that Syria had failed to protect its own people. The report, prepared by the UN-appointed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria showed the deadly violence that sweeps through the country.

Arab and Western states are prepared to discuss measures to get humanitarian aid into areas under military assault. This Thursday the UN panel submitted a list of Syrian military and political officials suspected of committing crimes against humanity, by Navi Pillay, the UN’s top human rights official.

The people involved could go as high as Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president whose security crackdown have claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people since the beginning of the protest in March 2011.

The document, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council cites several atrocities, including shooting and killing civilians, shelling residential areas and torturing wounded protesters in hospitals. (AV)