U.S. appalled by Syrian atrocities

Details of the human rights abuses outlined by an international commission of inquiry on Syria are appalling, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said. A Syrian army defector told a U.N.-backed panel investigating the human rights situation in Syrian that military forces were ordered to fire on unarmed protesters. "We were ordered to either disperse the crowd or eliminate everybody, including children," the panel quoted the defector as saying. "The orders were to fire in the air and immediately after to shoot at people." The panel also found several children were tortured to death. The victims included two teenagers seized by the Syrian air force in April. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the atrocities outlined in the report highlight the lengths to which Syrian President Bashar Assad will go to stay in power. "The United States welcomes the report of the independent international commission of inquiry on Syria, which documents the Assad regime's ruthless, depraved campaign against its own people," she said in a statement. "The details are appalling." Damascus through its official Syrian Arab News Agency blames foreign interference and domestic insurgents for much of the violence. The U.N. Security Council has been unable to act on Syria in large part because of opposition from veto-wielding Russia and China.