Syria 'killed and tortured' 11,000 detainees, say lawyers
Evidence of 'systemic killing' by government officials emerges day before start of peace talks
SYRIA was involved in the "systematic killing" and torture of 11,000 detainees and government officials could face war crimes charges, The Guardian reports.
The claims are based on a report which analysed a "huge cache" of digital photographs smuggled out of Syria by a former military photographer, the paper says. The images, which show the bodies of people who died while in the custody of regime's security forces between March 2011 to last August, reveal that many corpses were emaciated, bloodstained and bore signs of torture.
Some of the bodies - mostly of young men - had no eyes; others showed signs of strangulation or electrocution, the paper says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The 55,000 images have been analysed by "three eminent international lawyers" who have compiled a report commissioned by Qatar, a supporter of Syria's rebels. The authors are Sir Desmond de Silva QC, former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, the former lead prosecutor of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, and Professor David Crane, who indicted President Charles Taylor of Liberia at the Sierra Leone court.
One of the three told the BBC there was evidence of government involvement in the atrocities, a claim vehemently denied by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The timing of the report's release – a day before the start of talks in Geneva designed to end the civil war in Syria – is significant, the BBC says. Those talks are due to go ahead as scheduled after a last-minute invitation to Iran to participate was withdrawn by UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.
The invitation had prompted Syria's main Opposition group to threaten to boycott the talks and was criticised by the US.
Reuters says the withdrawal of Iran's invitation had averted the collapse of the talks, but not without cost. The invitation had triggered "24 hours of confusion that dismayed diplomats who have spent months cajoling Assad's opponents to negotiate".
The BBC says the 31-page report into the torture and killing of detainees in Syria is "more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that has yet emerged from the 34-month crisis".
The three lawyers who compiled the report say they found the military photographer, known only as Caesar, to be credible and truthful and his account "most compelling".
Caesar told the investigators his job was "taking pictures of killed detainees". He did not claim to have witnessed executions or torture. But he did describe a highly bureaucratic system.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The government's growing concern over a potential US Steel takeover
In the Spotlight Japan's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, is attempting to buy the company
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Finger-prickin' good: Are simpler blood tests seeing new life years after Theranos' demise?
Today's Big Question One Texas company is working to bring these tests back into the mainstream
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Cop benched after NFL star handcuffed in traffic stop
Speed Read A Miami-Dade police officer detained Dolphins star Tyreek Hill before the game
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The EU's landmark AI Act 'rushed' out as countdown begins on compliance
The Explainer 'We will be hiring lawyers while the rest of the world is hiring coders' – Europe's warning about new AI legislation
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The growing US movement to end child marriages
Under the Radar Practice is 'surprisingly widespread' but only 12 states have so far banned it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Where is sex before marriage illegal?
feature Indonesia is the latest country to ban sex outside of wedlock
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
New law makes all South Koreans younger
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published
-
Shamima Begum: what next after ‘Isis bride’ loses bid to regain UK citizenship?
Talking Point Lawyers say the Isis bride was victim of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation
By Arion McNicoll Last updated
-
Nobel winner thought call was about broken lawnmower
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published
-
Shaquille O'Neal joins effort to amend Australian Constitution
Speed Read
By Grayson Quay Published