UN panel concludes war crimes perpetrated in Syria

The UN on Wednesday said for the first time that Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and rebels have perpetrated war crimes, in a highly anticipated report that spells out clear responsibility for attacks on civilians and that could be used in possible prosecutions against the leader and others. It also contained an ominous warning that Syria's 17-month-old civil war was moving in "brutal" directions on all fronts as Assad's forces step up air assaults and anti-government armed groups seek stronger firepower to fight back. The panel appointed by the 47-nation Human Rights Council blamed the government and pro-government shabiha militia for the killing of more than 100 civilians in Houla in May and said the murders, unlawful killing, torture, sexual violence and indiscriminate attacks "indicate the involvement at the highest levels of the armed and security forces and the government". According to the final report to the Geneva-based council, the squads poured into the village of Houla on foot and in vehicles: Cars, minivans, pickups mounted with machineguns. At the end, dozens were dead — nearly half of them children. In one village site where some 60 people were killed, the commission found through satellite imagery and corroborated accounts that "the movement of vehicles or weapons, as well as the size of the group, would have been easily detectable by government forces" but the place was inaccessible for any "sizeable" anti-government armed group. The panel concluded that anti-government armed groups committed war crimes, including murder, extrajudicial killings and torture, but at a lesser frequency and scale. A confidential list of people and armed units believed to be responsible for crimes against humanity, breaches of international humanitarian law and gross human rights violations is to be submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in September. In its use of the term "war crimes" to describe its findings, the panel relies on an assessment of Syria by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in mid-July. The Geneva-based ICRC, which oversees the Geneva Conventions known as the rules of war, said it now considers the conflict in Syria to be a full-blown civil war, meaning international humanitarian law applies throughout the country. That assessment was an important reference for the panel and for all others trying to determine how much and what type of force can be used. It forms the basis for war crime prosecutions, especially if civilians are attacked or detained enemies are abused or killed. Until then, everything had to be considered "a violation or an abuse", said Karen Koning AbuZayd, one of the panel members. "The international community must come to some kind of consensus to stop the violence in the first place and then eventually hold people accountable for it," AbuZayd, a US citizen and former head of UNRWA, the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees, told AP. Syria had previously won her respect, she said, because of the excellent care it provided to Palestinian refugees during her past decade of work there. "For me, everything is pretty shocking. For these things to be happening in Syria... It's pretty painful, I must say, to see what is happening to the country and how all sides are behaving, really," she added. The panel was appointed to probe abuses in Syria but had hardly any access to the country, with only its chairman, Brazilian diplomat and professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, allowed into Damascus for a weekend visit last month to meet with some top government officials and families affected by the violence. A third panel member had dropped out. Most of the report, which covers the period between February 15 and July 20, was conducted during field interviews and in Geneva with Syrian refugees outside the country.   It is based on 1,062 interviews, but the panel emphasised that the investigation was hampered by the Assad regime's unwillingness to cooperate. Their report, whose findings are strikingly more conclusive about the Houla massacre than previous interim findings, could be used by world powers to justify tougher outside action against Syria. The panel recommends that the president of the Human Rights Council forward the report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who could bring it to the attention of the most powerful arm of the UN, the Security Council based in New York. Earlier this year, the council said in a resolution that it agreed with Pillay, the UN's top human rights official, in her call for action by the International Criminal Court based at the Hague. The Human Rights Council also could extend the mandate of its special panel on Syria so that it can investigate further. But even if it doesn't, Pinheiro would continue to work in essentially the same role for the council as its special rapporteur for Syria, a position that was created in March. Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the start of Syria's revolt, inspired by other Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic regimes in the region. The conflict has slowly changed into a full blown civil war that the panel says involves "more brutal tactics and new military capabilities on both sides". From JT