SWITZERLAND: U.N. investigators draw up a new list of Syrian war crimes suspects

Record ID: 281372

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: U.N. investigators draw up a new list of Syrian war crimes suspects
  • Date: 17th September 2012
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATOR PAULO PINHEIRO ARRIVING AT U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MEETING DELEGATES SEATED IN U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MEETING ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATOR PAULO PINHEIRO, SAYING: "We have collected a formidable and extraordinary body of evidence which will rema
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA6EWPUZCRD37X7FZTGTF4QQUL1
  • Story Text: United Nations human rights investigators said on Monday (September 17) that they had drawn up a new secret list of Syrians and units suspected of committing war crimes who should face criminal prosecution some day.
    The independent investigators, led by Paulo Pinheiro, said they had gathered "an extraordinary body of evidence" and urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
    "We have collected a formidable and extraordinary body of evidence which will remain in the custody of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Information collected, where consent was provided, will be available for future national and international justice mechanisms," Pinheiro told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
    Pinheiro presented his investigator 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 appears to be a state-directed policy "A second confidential list of individuals and units believed to be responsible for violations is being provided to the High Commissioner of Human Rights. The Commission considers it improper to publicly release the names due to the lower standard of proof employed by commissions of inquiry as compared to a court of law," Pinheiro said.
    He did not say if any Syrian rebels, as well as officials, were named on the list, which updated a confidential one his team submitted to U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay in February.
    However, he said there was an "increasing and alarming presence" of Islamist militants in Syria, some joining the rebels and others operating independently. Their presence tended to radicalise the rebels who had also committed crimes, he said.
    Syrian ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui accused Western and Arab powers of sending funds and weapons to support rebels conducting what he called a jihad or holy war against Damascus, and warned that the plan would backfire.
    "The mercenaries are in fact time bombs. They are time bombs that will explode later in the countries that are supporting them after they finish their terrorist missions in Syria," he said.
    Western countries are seeking yet another condemnation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government at the session, as well as an extension of the commission of inquiry's mandate, which expires this month after a year in which it conducted more than 1,100 interviews with victims and witnesses.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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