Terrorists ramp up extrajudicial killings, kidnappings – Amnesty Int’l

Terrorists in Syria  have increasingly resorted to torture and the summary execution of soldiers, suspected informants, pro-government militias and captured or kidnapped civilians, Amnesty International has warned ,according to RT.

In two separate reports reviewing the conduct of the terrorists in Syria, Amnesty said that the killing of government soldiers and suspected government supporters was on the rise .

 “Terrorists  are summarily killing people with a chilling sense of impunity, and the death toll continues to rise as more towns and villages come under the control of armed opposition groups,” Amnesty said.

 “our research points to an escalation in abuses by armed opposition groups,” said Ann Harrison, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program. “If left unaddressed such practices risk becoming more and more entrenched – it is imperative that all those concerned know they will be held accountable for their actions.”

Noting the public sympathy the Syrian opposition continues to receive in the West, Cilina Nasser of Amnesty said” rebels ” must be held accountable for crimes against humanity: “It’s time for the armed opposition groups to know that what they are doing is very wrong, and that some of the abuses they committed amount to war crimes.”

Amnesty said it also investigated one of the most gruesome videos in the conflict to surface in recent months, which showed the beheading of two Syrian army officers abducted by in the eastern town of Deir al-Zour in August.

Nasser said researchers contacted the families of the two men. The relatives of the slain men told Amnesty the kidnappers had identified themselves as members of the opposition group Osoud Tawhid.  They initially contacted the family to demand a ransom, but after negotiations the hostage-takers told the family they had killed the two men.

In a separate case, a witness told the rights watchdog of a so-called

 “hole of death” where rebels have dumped the bodies of pro-government fighters or suspected informers. 

Another witness told the group about a man who was killed by an opposition faction after being accused of collaborating with the government: “

We immediately went there and found him on a heap of waste, with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead, a firearm injury to the shoulder… His knee was broken.

One video reportedly filmed on March 9 in Raqqa, a city which was occupied by terrorists  last week, showed three bodies laid out in a city square in pools of blood. One of the dead was lying face-down, with his hands tied behind his back.

M.D