FNs Højkommissær for Menneskerettigheder fremlægger nye dystre tal om den blodige konflikt i det mellemøstlige land mellem styret og talrige oprørsgrupper og betegner det nye tal som chokerende højt.
GENEVA, 2 January 2013: Preliminary analysis carried out by data specialists on behalf of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has led to the compilation of a list of 59.648 individuals reported killed in Syria between 15 March 2011 and 30 November 2012.
“Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013,” UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay said.
“The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and is truly shocking,” she added.
According to OHCHR, the preliminary analysis, which took five months to complete, was conducted using a combined list of 147.349 reported killings, fully identified by the first and last name of the victims, as well as the date and location of the deaths.
Any reported killing that did not include at least these four elements was excluded from the list, which was compiled using datasets from seven different sources, including the Syrian Government.
The analysts noted that 60.000 is likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of deaths, given that reports containing insufficient information were excluded from the list, and that a significant number of killings may not have been documented at all by any of the seven sources.
“Although this is the most detailed and wide-ranging analysis of casualty figures so far, this is by no means a definitive figure,” Ms. Pillay noted.
“We have not been able to verify the circumstances of each and every death, partly because of the nature of the conflict and partly because we have not been allowed inside Syria since the unrest began in March 2011″, stated she.
“Once there is peace in Syria, further investigations will be necessary to discover precisely how many people have died, and in what circumstances, and who was responsible for all the crimes that have been committed. This analysis provides a very useful basis upon which future investigations can be built to enhance accountability and provide justice and reparations to victims’ families”, she said continuing:
“This massive loss of life could have been avoided if the Syrian Government had chosen to take a different path than one of ruthless suppression of what were initially peaceful and legitimate protests by unarmed civilians”.
Recent months have witnessed an escalation in the conflict, which began as an uprising against President al-Assad and is now in its 22nd month.
The crisis has left four million people inside the country in need of humanitarian assistance, and it is estimated that up to a million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries will need help during the first half of this year.
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Begynd fra: “As the situation has continued to degenerate, increasing numbers….”
