Damascus - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that the former Syrian government's systematic use of arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance to suppress dissent "constitutes crimes against humanity and war crimes, and represents some of the worst systematic violations of international law committed during the conflict." This came in the commission's report issued yesterday, Monday, entitled "A Web of Torture: Arbitrary Detention, Torture and Ill-Treatment in the Syrian Arab Republic" - which is based on more than two thousand witness statements, including more than 550 interviews with torture survivors.

According to the UN daily news bulletin, the report reveals horrific details about the patterns of torture and cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment practiced by former state forces on detained men, women and children, including "severe beatings, electric shocks, burning, nail pulling, tooth loss, rape and sexual violence including mutilation, prolonged stress positions, deliberate neglect, denial of medical care, aggravation of wounds and psychological torture."
The report comes after the commission visited mass graves and former state detention facilities in the Damascus area – including Sednaya Military Prison, Military Intelligence Branch 235 (Palestine) and the Air Force Intelligence branches in Mezzeh and Harasta – after years of being denied access by the former Syrian authorities.
The commission confirmed that what it saw there matched the descriptions given to it by hundreds of survivors and defectors over the past 14 years, stressing that the small, windowless isolation cells on the lower floors “still reeked with stench and revealed unimaginable suffering when the commission first began its investigations at the sites.”
The commission said that the overthrow of the former government and the release of prisoners from its torture chambers would have been unthinkable just two months ago. In this context, the chair of the commission, Paulo Pinheiro, said: “We stand at a critical juncture. The transitional government and the future Syrian authorities can now ensure that these crimes are never repeated. We hope that our findings after nearly 14 years of investigations will help end impunity for these patterns of abuse.” But the Commission stressed that the suffering of tens of thousands of families who have not found their missing relatives among the released prisoners continues, stressing that the discovery of additional mass graves has led many families to conclude the worst. In its report, it highlighted the urgent need to take decisive action to protect evidence, archives and crime scenes, including mass graves, until experts can uncover them and conduct exhumations to conduct forensic examinations when necessary. “For Syrians who have not found their loved ones among the released, this evidence, along with the testimonies of released detainees, may be the long-awaited hope of uncovering the truth about their missing relatives. We commend the new authorities for their commitment to protecting mass graves and evidence, and encourage further efforts, with the support of Syrian civil society and relevant international actors,” said Commission member Lynn Welchman. The commission said it plans to conduct in-depth investigations in the coming months after the new caretaker government granted it access to the country for the first time since 2011, “and after it has been granted unprecedented access to sites and survivors who no longer fear reprisals for providing their testimonies.” For his part, commission member Hanny Megally said he hopes to see “credible national justice initiatives in which survivors and families can play a pivotal role,” stressing the commission’s readiness to assist alongside human rights groups, Syrian families and UN partners.