Syria conflict: Islamic State 'committed war crimes'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /><div class="videoInStoryB" style="width: 448px;"> <div class="emp page-bookmark-link-aware" id="emp-28953282-3696" style="height: 252px; position: relative; width: 448px;"> <div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; height: 252px; padding-bottom: 0px; position: relative; width: 448px; z-index: 999;"> <iframe frameborder="0" id="smphtml5iframeemp-28953282-3696" name="smphtml5iframeemp-28953282-3696" scrolling="no" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/releases/smp-html/player.html?1.3.14" style="height: 252px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 448px;"></iframe></div> </div> <div class="caption" style="clear: both; float: none; padding: 0px 0px 16px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UN report highlights systematic torture, as Jeremy Bowen reports</span></div> </div> <div class="embedded-hyper" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px -160px 0px 16px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 144px;"> <a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28948555#story_continues_1" style="font-weight: bold; left: -5000px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: -5000px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Continue reading the main story</span></span></a><div class="hyperpuff"> <h2 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17258397" style="display: block; margin-bottom: -13px; margin-top: -13px; padding: 13px 8px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; z-index: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Syria conflict</span></span></a></h2> <ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28870611" rel="published-1408578132703" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">'No-one cares'</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27882197" rel="published-1403005310851" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">'Till the last drop of blood'</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27866021" rel="published-1402922125014" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Suffering in west Aleppo</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27687018" rel="published-1401818657315" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Defiant rebels</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Islamic State (IS) militants have committed "mass atrocities" in Syria and have recruited children as fighters, the United Nations says.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A.HRC.27.60_Eng.pdf" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">In a report</a>, investigators say public executions are a "common spectacle" in areas run by IS, one of the groups fighting against Syria's government.</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The report also accuses the Syrian authorities of using chemical agents in eight separate incidents this year.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The conflict between government forces and several rebel groups began in 2011.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Some 200,000 people have died since then.</span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'Horrific torture'</span></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UN report details abuses by the Syrian government and several of the armed groups fighting it. The report says the Syrian air force has used barrel bombs on civilian neighbourhoods.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"In some instances, there is clear evidence that civilian gatherings were deliberately targeted" by government forces, the investigators said.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"In government prisons, detainees were subjected to horrific torture and sexual assault."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The findings are the result of interviews and evidence collected between January and July this year as part of an inquiry into human rights violations in Syria.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Among the other allegations of war crimes committed by the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was the use of suspected chlorine gas, a chemical agent, in eight separate incidents in April and May of this year.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The period covered in the report coincides with the growth of IS in Syria. The group seeks to create an independent Islamic State in an area that stretches across Syria and Iraq.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has attracted jihadists from across the region, as well as fighters from Western countries including the UK and the US.</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="A man near site of alleged barrel bomb in Aleppo August 13 2014" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77191000/jpg/_77191553_77191552.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The use of barrel bombs by the Syrian government has been widely condemned</span></span></div> <div class="caption body-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="line" height="2" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="464" /></span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Analysis: Barbara Plett, BBC News, Washington</span></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The brutal murder of American journalist James Foley last week has focused minds here on a broader response to the rapid advance of IS.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US is considering expanding its campaign of limited air strikes in Iraq, the most immediate possibility being a humanitarian relief operation for Shia Turkmen besieged by IS militants in the northern part of the country.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">US spy planes have also begun surveillance flights over Syria to identify potential IS targets, after America's top general said the militant group could not be defeated without attacking its Syrian bases.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">US officials say that President Obama has not yet decided whether to authorise direct military intervention in Syria, which would be a significant escalation. But they all stress that any campaign to root out IS in Iraq and Syria would be long and difficult and would need to include increased support for local armed forces as well as a political solution.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It would also need to be backed by a coalition of European and regional countries, which the Obama administration has begun trying to mobilise.</span></div> <div class="caption body-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="line" height="2" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="464" /></span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Islamic state supporters in Raqqa Syria 24 August 2014" height="400" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77192000/jpg/_77192120_77192119.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Islamic State militants are said to have recently gained control of a Syrian airbase in Tabqa, near Raqqa</span></span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Training child soldiers</span></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In their report, UN investigators said IS was waging a campaign of fear in northern Syria, including amputations, public executions and whippings.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Bodies of those killed are placed on display for several days, terrorising the local population," the document says.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Women have been lashed for not abiding by IS's dress code. In Raqqa, children as young as 10 are being recruited and trained at IS camps."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Wednesday IS supporters tweeted pictures allegedly showing militants executing Syrian army soldiers after capturing the government Tabqa airbase near Raqqa in eastern Syria. The pictures have not been verified.</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="un inspector in ghouta, Damascus 2013 - no specific date" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77189000/jpg/_77189998_77189997.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">UN inspectors were initially barred from Ghouta in Damascus where chemical weapons were allegedly used</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the UN panel, said the international community has failed "in its most elemental duties - to protect civilians, halt and prevent atrocities and create a path toward accountability".</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of the investigators, Carla del Ponte - a former chief prosecutor of two UN war crimes tribunals - has urged world powers to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a separate development, Syrian rebel groups including the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front have taken control of a crossing between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to a UK-based monitoring group.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The Nusra Front and other rebel groups took the Quneitra crossing, and heavy fighting with the Syrian army is continuing in the surrounding area," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Israel Defence Forces said one of its officers "was moderately injured as a result of errant fire from Syria".</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"In response, we struck 2 Syrian military positions in the Golan Heights," an IDF spokesperson</span></div> </div>

Syria conflict: Islamic State 'committed war crimes'

The UN report highlights systematic torture, as Jeremy Bowen reports Continue reading the main story Syria conflict 'No-on...

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U.N. names panel to investigate war crimes in Gaza; Israel slams it

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="cover-wrap " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 30px; text-align: center; width: 718px;"> <div class=""> <div class="img-wrap" style="position: relative;"> <figure class=" cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox " data-id="0b03a6ea-9701-322f-8981-f5b121919771" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div> <a data-rapid_p="6" data-ylk="rspns:xpnd;t1:a3;t2:ct-mod;t3:ld;sec:ct-mod;slk:expand;elm:img;elmt:ct;itc:1;grpt:;edtr_vos:;g:;aid:0b03a6ea-9701-322f-8981-f5b121919771;ct:4;cpos:1;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-names-panel-investigate-war-crimes-gaza-165927108.html#" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); outline: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="Palestinians sit in a tent outside their apartments, which witnesses said were destroyed in an Israeli offensive during a 72-hour truce in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip" class="inview" height="379px" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ZtlPf8uOMKvRkUQMtGHJOA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM3OTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz02NzQ-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-08-11T175402Z_724774838_GM1EA8C051701_RTRMADP_3_MIDEAST-GAZA.JPG" style="-webkit-transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); -webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; opacity: 1 !important; text-align: left; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible !important; width: 718px;" width="674px" /></span></a></div> <span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow-small" style="background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; cursor: pointer; height: 45px; left: 50%; margin-left: -32px; margin-top: -23px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; top: 50%; width: 64px; z-index: 1;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">.</span></span></figure><div class="caption" style="margin: 7.5px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-overflow: ellipsis;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Palestinians sit in a tent outside their apartments, which witnesses said were destroyed in an Israeli offensive, during a 72-hour truce in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip August 11, 2014. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks mediated by Egypt on Monday on ending a month-old Gaza war, Egypt's state news agency said, after a new 72-hour truce appeared to be holding. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)</span></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="body yom-art-content clearfix" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px 10px; zoom: 1;"> <div class="yom-ad yom-ad-LREC" id="yom-ad-LREC" style="border: none; clear: both; float: right; height: 250px; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em 10px; max-height: 250px; text-align: center; visibility: inherit; width: 300px;"> <div class="darla" id="sb_rel_yom-ad-LREC-iframe" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); display: inline-block; height: 250px; position: relative; visibility: inherit; width: 300px; z-index: 9;"> <iframe allowtransparency="true" async="" frameborder="no" hidefocus="true" id="yom-ad-LREC-iframe" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://l.yimg.com/rq/darla/2-8-1/html/r-sf.html" style="display: block; height: 250px; left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; max-height: none; max-width: none; min-height: 0px; position: absolute; text-align: left; top: 0px; visibility: inherit; width: 300px; z-index: 10;" tabindex="-1"></iframe></div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By Stephanie Nebehay</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Monday named experts to an international commission of inquiry into possible human rights violations and war crimes committed by both sides during Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israel, however, dismissed the inquiry as a U.N. Human Rights Council "kangaroo court".</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">William Schabas, a Canadian professor of international law, will head the panel whose other members are Doudou Diene, a Senegalese veteran U.N. human rights expert.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A U.N. statement said Amal Alamuddin, a British-Lebanese lawyer engaged to be married to Hollywood actor George Clooney would take part though Alamuddin later denied she would participate in the inquiry.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I am honored to have received the offer, but given existing commitments - including eight ongoing cases - unfortunately could not accept this role," she said in a statement.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was not clear who would replace Alamuddin on the panel.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The U.N. statement said the independent team will investigate "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law ... in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A month of war, marked by Israeli air strikes on Gaza and rockets fired by Hamas militants into Israel, has killed 1,938 Palestinians and 67 Israelis while devastating wide tracts of densely populated Gaza.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The panel is to report by March 2015 to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Israel has long accused the 47-member state forum of bias against it.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Navi Pillay, the top U.N. human rights official, said on July 31 she believed Israel was deliberately defying international law in its military offensive in Gaza and that world powers should hold it accountable for possible war crimes.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israel has attacked homes, schools, hospitals, Gaza's only power plant and U.N. premises in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions, said Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hamas militants in Gaza have violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel, Pillay said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks mediated by Egypt on Monday on ending the war, Egypt's state news agency said, after a new 72-hour truce appeared to be holding.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor issued a statement dismissing the inquiry. He cited Israel's view that "the Human Rights Council had long ago turned into the 'terrorist rights council' and a kangaroo court, whose 'investigations' are pre-determined."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hamas Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in Gaza said "Hamas welcomes the decision to form an investigation committee into the war crimes committed by the occupation (Israel) against Gaza and it urges that it begin work as soon as possible."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israel is still angry about a U.N. inquiry on the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war against Gaza, headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. That report said both Israel and Hamas appeared to have committed war crimes, though it was tougher on Israel.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Israel and Washington said that report was distorted and biased against Israel.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York, Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Andrew Hay)</span></div> </div> </div>

U.N. names panel to investigate war crimes in Gaza; Israel slams it

. Palestinians sit in a tent outside their apartments, which witnesses said were destroyed in an Israeli offensive, during a 72-hour ...

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Amnesty accuses Army and Boko Haram of War Crimes

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <header class="post-header cf" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 21px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="featured" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/nigeria_2.jpg" itemprop="image" rel="prettyPhoto" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Amnesty accuses Army, Boko Haram of war crimes"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img alt="NIGERIA-UNREST-RIGHTS-MILITARY-FILES" class="attachment-main-slider wp-post-image no-display appear" height="336" src="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/nigeria_2-702x336.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 0.8; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Amnesty accuses Army, Boko Haram of war crimes" width="702" /></span></a></div> <h1 class="post-title" itemprop="name" style="border: 0px; float: left; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 35px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Amnesty accuses Army, Boko Haram of war crimes</span></span></h1> <a class="comments" href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=75295#comments" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px -35px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="fa fa-comments-o" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> </span></span></a><a class="comments" href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=75295#comments" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px -35px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The Amnesty International yesterday accused the Nigerian military and Boko Haram of war crimes in the operations in the northern part of the country, saying that fresh evidences have proved human rights violations and heinous as well as extrajudicial killings.</span></span></a><a class="comments" href="http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=75295#comments" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px -35px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Reacting to this, the Defence Headquarters stated that the military takes the case of human rights violation seriously, while stating that the allegation was too grievous to be associated with the military.</span></span></a></header><div class="post-container cf" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="post-content-right" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="post-content description" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px -1.857em; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">In its report released yesterday, the Amnesty International stated that video footage, images and testimonies it gathered had provide “fresh evidence of war crimes, including extrajudicial executions, and other serious human rights violations being carried out in north-eastern Nigeria as the fight by the military against Boko Haram and other armed groups intensifies.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The report signed by Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, stated that video footage Amnesty International obtained during trips to Borno State reveals multiple war crimes being carried out in Nigeria by the military and Boko Haram.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">It stated: “It includes horrific images of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves by men who appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the “Civilian Joint Task Force” (CJTF), state-sponsored militias. It also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram raid on a village in which the armed group killed nearly 100 people and destroyed or badly damaged scores of homes and other buildings.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“This shocking new evidence is further proof of the appalling crimes being committed with abandon by all sides in the conflict. Nigerians deserve better – what does it say when members of the military carry out such unspeakable acts and capture the images on film?”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Amnesty International stated that it did not expect such evidence and report “from a government, which sees itself as having a leadership role in Africa,” adding: “The ghastly images are backed up by the numerous testimonies we have gathered which suggest that extrajudicial executions are, in fact, regularly carried out by the Nigerian military and CJTF.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">it alleged that more than 4,000 people have been killed this year alone in the conflict by the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, including more than 600 extrajudicially executed following the Giwa Barracks attack on 14 March in Maiduguri.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“In recent months, the conflict has intensified in north-eastern Nigeria, spreading to smaller towns and villages which are now increasingly on the front line. In July 2014 Damboa in Borno state became the first town to fall under the control of Boko Haram since President Goodluck Jonathan declared the State of Emergency in May 2013,” Amnesty stated.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the military stops committing human rights and humanitarian law violations, stating: “All reports of extrajudicial executions and other war crimes and serious violations must be investigated promptly, thoroughly, independently and impartially, with those responsible – up the entire chain of command – brought to justice.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The group said that Boko Haram and other armed groups were also responsible for a huge number of heinous crimes, “like the abduction of the schoolgirls in Chibok more than three months ago, but the military are supposed to defend people, not to carry out further abuses themselves.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Giving details of evidence, the report stated: “The footage obtained by Amnesty International includes a gruesome incident that took place near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on 14 March 2014. It shows what appear to be members of the Nigerian military and CJTF using a blade to slit the throats of a series of detainees, before dumping them into an open mass grave.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“The video shows 16 young men and boys seated in a line. One by one, they are called forward and told to lie down in front of the pit. Five of them are killed in this way; the fate of the remaining detainees is not shown on video, but eyewitness accounts confirmed that nine of them had their throats cut while the others were shot to death.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“Additional footage featuring some of the same perpetrators, taken earlier that day at the same location, shows two detainees digging a grave under armed guard before the killing is carried out. One is told to lie down in front of the pit, where his legs and head are held by what seem to be CJTF members. The individual who appears to be the commander of the group puts his right foot on the man’s side, raises his knife, kisses it and shouts “Die hard Commando” and cuts the throat of the restrained young man. All other military and CJTF shout “Yes oga (boss), kill him.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The report stated that Amnesty International spoke to several military sources, who independently confirmed that the armed captors in the video were indeed military personnel, stating: “According to two credible sources, they may be part of the 81 Battalion, which is based in Borno State.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">On Boko Haram atrocities, the report stated: “Like many other communities in north-eastern Nigeria, Bama’s residents have been living in constant fear of attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups. These are sometimes believed to be in retaliation for what the armed groups deem to be the local residents’ co-operation with the Nigerian military. Many of the attacks are met with little resistance by the military.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“Boko Haram staged its most deadly assault on the town over the course of several hours early in the morning of 19 February 2014, which locals report left almost 100 people dead and more than 200 injured. Improvised explosive devices and grenades were used to destroy huge swathes of the town.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Quoting a Bama resident, “insurgents had a field day, killing, burning and demolishing,”  Amnesty International added: “Video footage taken in the aftermath of the attack shows the charred remains of numerous cars and buildings, including fire damage to the top floor of the local Emir’s (Shehu’s) palace. Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that schools and other administrative buildings were also bombed or torched, and more than 100 residents’ vehicles were destroyed.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Amnesty International also called for “an immediate, independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the pattern of serious and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by all sides that is emerging in north-eastern Nigeria.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">Reacting to the Amnesty report, The Defence Headquarters, in a statement by Major General Chris Olukolade, director, Defence Information stated that military takes the issue of human rights seriously and will never condone any proved case of abuse by its personnel.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The military also stated that it was “deeply concerned about the set of video footage being circulated and which unfortunately has also become reference data for Amnesty International in its report,” adding: “Much as the scenes depicted in these videos are alien to our operations and doctrines, it has to be investigated to ensure that such practices have not crept, surreptitiously into the system.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“The Defence Headquarters considers these allegations too grievous to be associated with Nigerian troops, considering the doctrinal and operational contents of the training imparted to personnel on a continuous basis; emphasising the importance of respect for human rights and dignity of human person as well as observance of humanitarian laws.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The military stated that despite cases of impersonations in the counter terrorism operations it “view those grave allegations very seriously, more so as it borders on the integrity of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, which must be sustained in the interest of our national survival.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">“Consequently, the Defence Headquarters, in addition to the already existing Joint Investigation Team (JIT), has constituted a team of senior officers and legal cum forensic experts to study the video footage and the resultant allegations of infractions in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts.  This will further determine and stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law.”</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.857em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: large;">The statement stated that the military would not condone “any action or inaction that tramples on the right to life of any Nigerian. The ultimate objective of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operation is the complete cessation of the heinous and barbaric activities of the terrorists and to stamp out every vestige of terrorism in our country with the application of international best practices in such operations.”</span></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Amnesty accuses Army and Boko Haram of War Crimes

Amnesty accuses Army, Boko Haram of war crimes   The Amnesty International yesterday accused the Nigerian military and Boko Haram of wa...

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