U.N. Expands List of Syrian War Crimes Suspects
U.N. investigators have added more names to a secret list of Syrians suspected of committing war crimes during the 18-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, and warned on Monday more foreign Islamist militants were fighting there.
The human rights investigators, led by Paulo Pinheiro, said they had gathered “a formidable and extraordinary body of evidence” as Syrian government forces conduct daily air strikes and shelling in indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas.
They urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court, an appeal backed by Britain and France. But diplomats noted this would require acceptance by Russia and China, which have blocked all previous efforts to condemn Syria or start proceedings at the U.N. war crimes court.
“Gross human rights violations have grown in number, in pace and in scale,” Pinheiro told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. “There is no statute of limitations on these crimes.”
He did not say if any Syrian rebels were among the names on the list, which updated a confidential one his independent team submitted to U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay in February.
Pinheiro presented the team’s latest report, issued a month ago, saying Syrian government forces and allied militia had committed war crimes including murder and torture of civilians in what appeared to be a state-directed policy.