Another Massacre in al-Qaboon

The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) has learnt of a new massacre which took place on Monday 20th August, in Al Qaboon neighbourhood in Damascus. Locals have confirmed the discovery of 12 unidentified bodies, two of which are children. They said that the people to whom the bodies belonged had been shot at from a short distance and were distorted from the effects of torture before being killed and dragged.

It is clear that the Syrian Intelligence and Shabiha have pursued a new yet old tactic in the killing of civilians, through discarding their bodies far away from their homes after distorting or burning their bodies to ensure they remain unidentified. These methods were the same methods used in the massacres of 1980s of the last century.

SHRC repeats its call to the United Nations to play its role as per its charter and international conventions and agreements to protect civilians in Syria from the killing, distortion of their bodies, burning and intense torture and kidnapping they are being subjected to. The UN should also investigate the crimes taking place, which can be classified as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, and bring the perpetrators to the international tribunal or to courts which deal with this specific purpose. If the UN continues to give the Syrian regime chances, this will only increase the killing of civilians, including children, women, the old and others.

Syrian Human Rights Committee
20/8/2012