For første gang peger en højtstående person i FN direkte på den syriske præsident som vidende om og dybt impliceret i godkendelsen af omfattende krigsforbrydelser – FNs Højkommissær for Menneskerettigheder er blevet briefet om “massive beviser” herom efter en dybtgående undersøgelse, fremgik det mandag.
På et pressemøde i Geneve fortalte højkommissær Navi Pillay, at undersøgelseskommissionen har udarbejdet en rapport, der “indikerer ansvar på højeste regeringsniveau, heriblandt statsoverhovedet (præsident Bashar al-Assad, red.)”
Pillay understregede, at hun ikke selv har set den fortrolige liste med ansvarlige, som efterforskere har lavet. Men ud fra briefingen, som hun har fået, er det tydeligt, at både højtstående regeringsfolk samt oprørsstyrker bærer ansvaret for krigsforbrydelserne.
“Omfanget af ondskabsfuldhed i de overgreb, der bliver begået af aktører på begge sider, er næsten ubegribeligt,” sagde hun.
Syriens regering svarede omgående igen: “Hun (Navi Pillay, red.) har talt nonsens i lang tid, og vi lytter ikke til hende,” sagde viceudenrigsminister Faisal Mekdad.
BBC online skriver udbyggende mandag:
The UN estimates more than 100.000 people have died in the conflict.
UN investigators have evidence of torture, mass killing, and rape. The investigators have always said the Syrian regime appears to be responsible for the majority of abuses (overgreb).
Nevertheless they have never publicly singled out specific figures; there is a list of names, but it is confidential pending a possible prosecution for war crimes.
Based on those briefings, Pillay has repeatedly called on the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, something it has not so far done. Her candour (åbenhed) today may be a sign of her impatience.
The investigators have concluded that the Syrian government appears to be responsible for the majority of the abuses, and that the systematic nature of the abuse points to government policy.
Syria is not a state party to the ICC and therefore any investigation into the conflict would need to be mandated by the Security Council.
However, Russia and China have a veto on the council and would be highly unlikely to let such a move pass.
Also on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group which monitors deaths in the conflict, said its estimate of the number of dead had now reached 125.835, more than a third of them civilians.
