A UN report on the Syrian conflict published on Wednesday, concluded that President Assad’s forces and pro-government Shabiha fighters are were responsible for perpetrating most of the war crimes and crimes against humanity on Syrian civilians.
The report held the government and its allied militia were responsible for the killing of more than a 100 civilians in May and indicated that murders, unlawful killings, torture, sexual violence and indiscriminate attacks indicated “the involvement at the highest levels of the armed security forces and the government."
The panel also acknowledged that anti-government armed groups had committed war crimes including murder, extrajudicial killings and torture, but noted that these crimes were of a lesser frequency and scale.
The reported included findings from 1062 interviews, but the panel stressed their lack of ability to access Syria hindered the investigation. The report was released on Wednesday just hours after a bomb exploded outside the hotel where the UN observers were staying.
The findings in this report are far more conclusive than previous interim findings, therefore allowing world powers to justify any resulting action taken against Syria, and authenticate calls for an international investigation leading to the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The conflict in Syria has slowly transformed into a full blown civil war ,that involves “more brutal tactics and new military capabilities on both sides.” Activists say that more than 20,000 people have lost their lives since the start of the Syrian revolt.
