Human Rights Group Accuses Syrian Government of War Crimes
Published at(WASHINGTON) — Human Rights Watch charges that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are guilty of war crimes for committing various atrocities in northwestern Idlib province.
The international rights group said that the deaths of 95 civilians and destruction of hundreds of homes occurred during a period five weeks ago when United Nations special emissary Kofi Annan was in the process of crafting a six-point ceasefire plan that is currently in progress.
According to the report, Syrian forces and pro-government militias routinely rounded up villagers and killed them execution-style.
Furthermore, Human Rights Watch said it documented “dozens and dozens of cases of houses that have been burned intentionally or destroyed, not from shelling, but actually from soldiers going in and setting them on fire.”
There was no comment about the report from al-Assad’s government, which alleges that 2,600 of its own forces have died at the hands of terrorists spurred by foreign agitators since March 2011.
The ceasefire, now in its third week, has done little to stop the violence. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed Wednesday that rebels killed 15 Syrian security force members in an ambush in the Aleppo province.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio