GENEVA: Thousands of civilians have been subjected to “unimaginable suffering” including torture, sexual violence and death in detention during a decade of conflict in Syria, United Nations investigators said on Monday.
Tens of thousands of civilians who were detained are unaccounted for, with no trace of their whereabouts, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria found.
The three-member panel’s report, based on more than 2,500 interviews conducted over 10 years, carried out investigations into more than 100 detention facilities.
It found that almost every major party that has controlled territory in Syria since 2011 has committed detention-related violations and abuses.
“Hundreds of thousands of family members have a right to the truth about their loved ones’ fate,” said commission chair Paulo Pinheiro.
“This is a national trauma that needs to be urgently addressed by action from the parties and the international community.”
The report stressed that detainees continued to be mistreated in notorious detention facilities even as the conflict approached its 11th year.
“These detainees have endured unimaginable suffering,” the commission said.
“This has been happening with the knowledge and acquiescence of the governments who have supported the different parties to the conflict.
“The fate of tens of thousands of civilians who were forcibly disappeared by Syrian government forces, many nearly a decade ago, remains unknown. Many are presumed to have died or been executed.”
Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd said parties to the conflict had, with few exceptions, failed to investigate their own forces, with the focus seemingly on concealing rather than probing crimes committed in detention facilities.
The report said that men, women, boys and girls detained by government or pro-government forces were subjected to inhuman treatment and torture, including rape.
“At least 20 different horrific methods of torture used by the government of Syria have been extensively documented,” the report said.
“These include administering electric shocks, the burning of body parts, pulling off nails and teeth, mock executions, folding detainees into a car tire and crucifying or suspending individuals from one or two limbs for prolonged periods, often in combination with severe beating.”
The authors called for all parties in the conflict to stop violations, immediately release certain categories of detainee and allow independent monitoring of detention facilities.
Its findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was mandated by the council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011 in the country.
The commission has repeatedly accused the various sides of war crimes and in some cases crimes against humanity.
Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, more than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes.
Suffering of Syria detainees ‘unimaginable’: UN panel
https://arab.news/7n4f4
Suffering of Syria detainees ‘unimaginable’: UN panel
- Almost every major party that has controlled territory in Syria since 2011 has committed detention-related violations and abuses
- Report stressed that detainees continued to be mistreated in notorious detention facilities even as the conflict approached its 11th year
Aoun slams ‘systematic policy of aggression’ as Israeli strikes kill 2, wound journalists in south Lebanon escalation
- Lebanese Army: Attacks terrorize civilians and hinder weapons control plan
- Israeli army spokesperson said military eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer in the area
- Israeli drones targeted sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles
BEIRUT: Two people were killed and several journalists wounded in a series of Israeli attacks on Wednesday targeting southern areas, most of which lie north of the Litani River.
The Lebanese Army Command described the escalation as “impeding the army’s efforts and hindering the completion of its plan to confine weapons to Lebanese territory.” It said that the strikes terrorized civilians, caused deaths and injuries, displaced dozens of families and undermined regional stability.
The day’s security situation was dominated by hours of Israeli escalation, including airstrikes and evacuation warnings targeting villages and populated areas ahead of further bombardment.
The Israeli army said that warplanes carried out precision strikes on civilian vehicles in Bazouriyeh, killing a Hezbollah member. A separate drone strike hit a civilian vehicle on the Zahrani-Mseileh road, killing one person, with Israel claiming the target was another Hezbollah operative.
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said that the military “eliminated Abu Ali Salameh, who served as a Hezbollah liaison officer” in the village of Yanouh, in southern Lebanon. He accused Salameh of managing Hezbollah activities to “enable the group to operate within civilian areas and on private property, and to establish terrorist infrastructure in the heart of populated civilian areas, through the deliberate and cynical exploitation of the residents to serve Hezbollah’s objectives.”
Adraee claimed that on Dec. 13, Israel alerted Lebanon’s enforcement mechanism about a Hezbollah weapons depot in Yanouh. Salameh allegedly relayed the notification to other Hezbollah members, who then blocked Lebanese army access by staging a gathering while removing weapons from the site.
He said that Salameh also coordinated with the Lebanese army to falsely document the property as weapons-free, even as “suspicious boxes” were removed via a back entrance. Adraee called these actions a violation of Israel-Lebanon understandings, adding that “the Israeli army will continue to take measures to eliminate all threats.”
Israeli artillery also shelled the Harmoun area in the Bint Jbeil district, south of the Litani River, prompting Israeli army warnings — complete with maps — for residents of Qanarit, Kfour in Nabatieh and Jarjouh to evacuate immediately.
Israeli drones then hammered the sites with heavy airstrikes, wounding journalists in Qanarit and destroying their equipment, cameras and vehicles.
The Press Photographers Syndicate said: “Israeli claims of maintaining safe distances offer no protection, just as the warnings issued by the enemy to civilians offer no protection. It seems that cameras are not a red line.”
The statement urged photojournalists “to exercise caution and avoid turning their professional commitment into a reckless gamble.”
Civilians in the targeted areas reported receiving phone calls from Israel ordering them to clear squares, residential neighborhoods and a mosque.
The Lebanese Army Command confirmed that “Israeli attacks and violations targeted civilian buildings and homes in several areas, most recently in villages in the south, in a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and security, the cessation of hostilities agreement, and UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun issued a statement on Wednesday evening condemning the strikes and accused Tel Aviv of “pursuing a systematic policy of aggression” that targeted civilians and violated international humanitarian law, and constituted “a dangerous escalation.”
“This repeated aggressive behavior proves Israel’s refusal to abide by its commitments under the cessation of hostilities agreement and reflects a deliberate disregard for the efforts exerted by the Lebanese state to control the situation on the ground, maintain stability, and prevent the escalation of the confrontation,” he said.
He called on the international community — particularly the agreement’s sponsors — “to assume their legal and political responsibilities and take clear and effective measures to stop these violations and put an end to the policy of impunity.”
The escalation also came as Aoun reaffirmed his commitment to “monopolizing weapons in the hands of the state throughout all Lebanese territory.”
At a meeting of the Higher Supervisory Committee for Lebanon’s border protection program — attended by the US and Canadian ambassadors — Army Commander Gen. Rudolph Haykal stressed the army’s “absolute commitment” to securing borders but called for “qualitative military support” to tackle challenges on the northern and eastern fronts.
The army said that the ambassadors praised “its professionalism and success,” stressing the need to bolster the military institution to enhance its ability to maintain security nationwide. Lebanese military units are currently securing the northern and eastern borders with Syria to combat smuggling, weapons transfers and illegal infiltration.
