By IANS,
Washington: Former Syrian soldiers have identified by name 74 commanders and officials responsible for attacks on unarmed protesters, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday.
The report names commanders and officials from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies that allegedly ordered, authorised or condoned widespread killings, torture and unlawful arrests during anti-government protests.
Human Rights Watch has urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and impose sanctions against the officials implicated in abuses.
The 88-page report is based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies.
The defectors provided detailed information about their units’ participation in attacks, abuses against Syrian citizens, and the orders they got from commanders and officials at various levels named in the report.
“Defectors gave us names, ranks and positions of those who gave the orders to shoot and kill, and each and every official named in this report, up to the very highest levels of the Syrian government, should answer for their crimes against the Syrian people,” said Anna Neistat, associate director at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report.
“The Security Council should ensure accountability by referring Syria to the International Criminal Court.”
In some cases, officers themselves participated in the killings.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that more than 4,000 people have been killed since the start of the protests. Human Rights Watch has documented many of these killings.