Syrian actions may be war crimes

Methods used by Syrian forces in a security sweep in Tell Kalakh could be crimes against humanity, an Amnesty International report released Wednesday indicated. "The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in Tell Kalakh paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy director, of the report, "Crackdown in Syria: Terror in Tell Kalakh." Most of the crimes included in the report would fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if the U.N. Security Council refers the matter to the court's prosecutor, Luther said in a release. The findings are based on interviews conducted in Lebanon and by phone with more than 50 people in May and June, Luther said. Amnesty International has not been allowed in Syria. The operation began May 14 when the army and security forces entered Tell Kalakh following a demonstration calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad. At least one civilian was killed on that first day, apparently by snipers, the report said. The following day, government-backed forces detained many male residents, the report said. Witness accounts said most of those detained were tortured and at least nine people died while in custody. Amnesty International called on Syrian authorities to release the people who remain detained. The organization repeated its call on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation to the ICC prosecutor and urged Syrian authorities to grant access to U.N. investigators looking into the human rights situation in Syria. "The willingness of the international community to take action on Libya in the name of human rights has highlighted its double standards on Syria," Luther said. "Despite President Bashar Assad's talk of reform, there is little evidence so far that the Syrian authorities will respond to anything but concrete international measures."