The conflict in Syria has reached new levels of brutality, according to a report released Tuesday by a United Nations commission that found reasonable grounds to believe chemical weapons have been used.
The commission, which was not allowed to investigate inside Syria, did not identify what chemical weapons were used or who used them. The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition have accused each other of employing such weapons against civilian populations.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday that samples taken from Syria and tested in France confirmed the use of sarin gas multiple times, the Associated Press reported.
The commission found that war crimes and gross human rights violations are being committed on an increasing scale by both sides in the civil war. During the four-month period the report covers, 17 possible massacres were committed including the killing of dozens of civilians or more, many of them women and children, in the towns of Baida and Baniyas in early May by a government-affiliated militia.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality in Syria where the harrowing accounts of victims have seared themselves on our conscience,” the report said.
Government forces and pro-government militias regularly carry out widespread attacks against civilians through indiscriminate shelling, torture, enforced disappearance and rape, according to the report. As a result of the conflict, the commission estimates that there are 4.25 million internally displaced Syrians who have fled to safer areas.
The opposition rebel fighters are also committing war crimes, the report found, including extrajudicial executions, torture, hostage-taking and looting. While violations from the rebels are on the rise, they do not reach the intensity and level of those committed by the government and its militias, the commission said.
The findings of the report are based on 430 interviews with Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and telephone and Skype interviews with people inside Syria as well as photographs, video recordings, satellite imagery and medical records.
The U.N. commission of inquiry report, presented to the Human Rights Council, came as political maneuvering over the Syrian conflict continued by world powers.
The report warned against the human cost of increased availability of weapons a week after the European Union did not renew its arms embargo on Syria, possibly opening the way for countries to begin arming the rebels.
“The desperation of the parties to the conflict has resulted in new levels of cruelty and brutality, bolstered by an increase in the availability of weapons,” the commission wrote. “Increased arm transfers hurt the prospect of a political settlement to the conflict … and have devastating consequences for civilians.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country hadn’t yet sent advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria, adding that that it would change the balance of power in the region. The weapons, which Russia says are part of an arms deal signed years ago, would make enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria much more difficult and dangerous.
"It's perhaps the best such weapon in the world," Putin said at a news conference in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. "We don't want to throw the region off balance."
The plan to deliver the sophisticated weapons from Russia has been widely criticized especially as Moscow works simultaneously with Washington to hold an international conference in Geneva to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
On Friday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Russia’s actions threatened to disrupt diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.
“While the nature of the conflict is constantly changing, there remains no military solution,” the commission said. “The conflict will end only through a comprehensive, inclusive political process.”
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The commission, which was not allowed to investigate inside Syria, did not identify what chemical weapons were used or who used them. The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition have accused each other of employing such weapons against civilian populations.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday that samples taken from Syria and tested in France confirmed the use of sarin gas multiple times, the Associated Press reported.
The commission found that war crimes and gross human rights violations are being committed on an increasing scale by both sides in the civil war. During the four-month period the report covers, 17 possible massacres were committed including the killing of dozens of civilians or more, many of them women and children, in the towns of Baida and Baniyas in early May by a government-affiliated militia.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality in Syria where the harrowing accounts of victims have seared themselves on our conscience,” the report said.
Government forces and pro-government militias regularly carry out widespread attacks against civilians through indiscriminate shelling, torture, enforced disappearance and rape, according to the report. As a result of the conflict, the commission estimates that there are 4.25 million internally displaced Syrians who have fled to safer areas.
The opposition rebel fighters are also committing war crimes, the report found, including extrajudicial executions, torture, hostage-taking and looting. While violations from the rebels are on the rise, they do not reach the intensity and level of those committed by the government and its militias, the commission said.
The findings of the report are based on 430 interviews with Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and telephone and Skype interviews with people inside Syria as well as photographs, video recordings, satellite imagery and medical records.
The U.N. commission of inquiry report, presented to the Human Rights Council, came as political maneuvering over the Syrian conflict continued by world powers.
The report warned against the human cost of increased availability of weapons a week after the European Union did not renew its arms embargo on Syria, possibly opening the way for countries to begin arming the rebels.
“The desperation of the parties to the conflict has resulted in new levels of cruelty and brutality, bolstered by an increase in the availability of weapons,” the commission wrote. “Increased arm transfers hurt the prospect of a political settlement to the conflict … and have devastating consequences for civilians.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country hadn’t yet sent advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria, adding that that it would change the balance of power in the region. The weapons, which Russia says are part of an arms deal signed years ago, would make enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria much more difficult and dangerous.
"It's perhaps the best such weapon in the world," Putin said at a news conference in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. "We don't want to throw the region off balance."
The plan to deliver the sophisticated weapons from Russia has been widely criticized especially as Moscow works simultaneously with Washington to hold an international conference in Geneva to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
On Friday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Russia’s actions threatened to disrupt diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.
“While the nature of the conflict is constantly changing, there remains no military solution,” the commission said. “The conflict will end only through a comprehensive, inclusive political process.”
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