Brutality committed under Syria’s Bashar al-Assad may constitute crimes against humanity, an Amnesty International report said Wednesday. It urged the United Nations Security Council to refer Assad and his regime to the International Criminal Court.
According to Amnesty International, the humanitarian crimes include arbitrary detentions, severe torture and at least nine deaths in custody after a “devastating security operation” in May near the Lebanese border.
The incident, which took place in the western town of Tal Kalakh, saw many fleeing the violence and attempting to cross the border into Lebanon. Amnesty based their report on more than 50 interviews they collected on the incident.
Cilina Nasser, the researcher who conducted the interviews, said in her report that al-Assad should be held responsible for the acts committed by the Syrian army and security forces because he has done nothing to prevent them.
“[The Syrian government] cannot talk about reforms while they are committing crimes against humanity,” she said.
The interviews revealed torture methods used against detainees in the Tal Kalakh assault, such as castration, electric shocks and being forced into a tire and then beaten. The report also included allegations of Syrian forces firing on fleeing families, the looting and vandalizing of homes by soldiers and the subsequent torture of victims’ relatives.
Reports from Human Rights Watch offer similar stories of atrocities committed in the city of Homs, CNN reported.
