Syria accused of crimes against humanity
Amnesty International says it has evidence that Syrian forces may have committed crimes against humanity when they crushed protests in the western town of Tel Kelakh in May.
The rights group urged the UN Security Council to refer President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the International Criminal Court for the “systematic and targeted abuse of civilians” in Tel Kelakh.
Amnesty International’s report, based on interviews carried out by phone in Lebanon, details the death of at least nine people in custody, torture and the indiscriminate shooting of civilians.
“The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in Tel Kalakh paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.
“Most of the crimes described in this report would fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. But the UN Security Council must first refer the situation in Syria to the Court’s Prosecutor.”
“The willingness of the international community to take action on Libya in the name of human rights has highlighted its double standards on Syria,” Mr Luther continued.
In scenes repeated across the country, army and security forces entered Tel Kalakh on 14 May after a demonstration against the government.
The report’s findings are based on interviews carried out in Lebanon and by phone with more than 50 people in May and June. Amnesty International has not been allowed to enter Syria.
Read more: 77 children killed during Syria unrest
“They tied me up in the shabah position and applied electricity to my body and testicles,” Amnesty quoted one 20-year-old man describing his daily treatment during five days of detention in the provincial capital Homs.
Eight of the men Amnesty recorded as dying in detention were shot and wounded as they were ordered out of a house, and were then taken away by soldiers. When relatives were told to identify their bodies they had marks suggesting torture.
Amnesty said on the first day of the protests in the city that one civilian was killed by forces shooting indiscriminately into the crowd.
“Even the ambulance carrying his body came under fire. As many tried to leave, Syrian forces fired on fleeing families,” the group said.
Rights group estimate 1,300 people have died since the uprising began on 15 March.
