http://www.aljazeera.com
15 Aug 2012

UN accuses Syria of policy of violence against civilians

The independent investigators, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, conducted more than 1,000 interviews, mainly with Syrian refugees or defectors who have fled to neighbouring countries, over the past year to produce their latest 102-page report to the UN Human Rights Council.

They found "reasonable grounds" to affirm that government forces and the allied shabiha militia had committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

These included "unlawful killing, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, indiscriminate attack, pillaging and destruction of property".

"What happened on the government side appears to be a policy of the state. It is not just widespread but similar large-scale complex operations, how they are carried out, the way the military and security work together,"

"Children described having been beaten, whipped with electrical cables, burned with cigarettes and subjected to electrical shocks to the genitals," the investigators said of those in the custody of state forces.

"Defectors stated that commanders ordered their subordinates to shoot civilians and 'hors de combat' fighters, and to torture and mistreat detainees. Orders were often enforced at gunpoint and anyone hesitating to comply risked arrest or summary execution," the report said.