Report Purports To Detail ‘Systematic’ Killing By Syria’s Assad

The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad conducted “systematic torture and killing” of those detained in the country’s bloody civil war. That’s according to a report by three former war crimes prosecutors who examined thousands of photographs of dead prisoners that they say were smuggled out by a Syrian defector. The revelation comes a day before Syrian peace talks are set to begin in Switzerland.

The report, first obtained by CNN and The Guardian, says the bodies in the photographs “showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing.” (A warning to readers: The photographs in the report are of a graphic nature).

The defector — codenamed “Caesar” — who allegedly smuggled the pictures out of Syria photographed the bodies when he worked for the Syrian military police, according to the report. It adds:

“Having carefully interviewed ‘Caesar’ and evaluated his evidence in light of the exhibits available to it, the inquiry team found him, for its part, to be a truthful and credible witness. He revealed no signs of being ‘sensational’; nor did he seem partisan. Although he was a supporter of those who opposed the present regime, the inquiry team is satisfied that he gave an honest account of his experiences.

“If he wished to exaggerate his evidence it would have been very easy for him to say that he had actually witnessed executions. In fact, he made it quite plain that he never witnessed a single execution. There were many other reasons which drove the inquiry team to its conclusion that his evidence was reliable and could safely be acted upon in any subsequent judicial proceedings.”

As NPR’s Deborah Amos told our Newscast unit, this is the first time evidence like this “comes from inside the regime.” The report was commissioned by the London-based law firm Carter-Ruck, which was acting on behalf of Qatar, a major backer of Syria’s anti-Assad rebels.

The report’s publication, a day before the Geneva 2 peace talks are set to begin, underscore the difficulty of bringing together the various factions for negotiations in the Swiss city.

As NPR’s Deborah Amos reported on Monday’s Morning Edition, hopes for the conference are low. One reason: Assad’s role in any future Syrian government. The U.S. insists he must go. Russia continues to support him.

NPR’s Scott Neuman reported Monday that the U.N. rescinded an invitation to Iran to take part in the talks after Syrian opposition groups said they’d boycott the discussions if Tehran got a seat at the table. Iran is a major ally of Assad, and the U.N. invitation had irked many, including the U.S., which said Iran didn’t support the aim of the talks: to set up a transitional government in Syria. Iran said it wouldn’t accept any preconditions to participation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who along with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been instrumental in putting together the talks, criticized the canceled invitation, saying it diminished the prospects of the talks succeeding. Russia, too, is a major ally of Assad.

NPR’s Michele Kelemen and Corey Flintoff have stories on Tuesday’s Morning Edition outlining the differences in opinion and policy between the two countries.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.image
Read original article – Published January 21, 201410:28 AM
Report Purports To Detail ‘Systematic’ Killing By Syria’s Assad

NPR News

KTOO is the NPR member station in Juneau. NPR offers its members radio and digital stories.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications