Syrian regime engages in systematic torture, says report

[maddezmom]

Source: The Guardian

Former detainees have described torture methods and locations of detention centres, according to Human Rights Watch

Evidence that Syrian intelligence agencies systematically use torture and ill treatment that constitutes a crime against humanity is laid out in a report that activists say they hope will serve as a basis for future prosecutions.

Information given by former Syrian detainees and defectors has identified the locations, agencies responsible, torture methods used, and in many cases the commanders in charge of 27 detention facilities run by the country's four main intelligence and security organisations, according to Human Rights Watch.


The 81-page report by the New York-based watchdog relies on over 200 interviews conducted since the start of demonstrations against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. According to opposition activists some 15,000 people have been killed since then.

On Monday, the Syrian government announced new penalties for terrorist crimes after Assad declared last week the country was in a state of "real war."


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/03/syria-torture-human-rights-watch?newsfeed=true

[leveymg]

1. And they have for decades, but it wasn't on the agenda to broadcast it until now.

Human rights violations aren't new to Syria. It's been a fact of life since the Sunni Uprising was put down in 1982 after a six year civil war in which 100,000 of so Syrians on both sides died. The difference today is, the outrage serves the purposes of regional ambitions and a program of regime change.