UN cites Assad in war crimes

Investigative panel’s evidence points to regime, says top rights official

GENEVA A growing body of evidence points to the involvement of senior Syrian officials, including President Bashar Assad, in crimes against humanity and war crimes, the UN’s top human rights official said Monday.

Navi Pillay, who heads the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the scale and viciousness of the abuses being perpetrated by both sides almost defies belief, and is being well documented by an expert UN panel of investigators.

“They’ve produced massive evidence,” she said. “They point to the fact that the evidence indicates responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state.” But Pillay said the lists of suspected criminals are handed to her on a confidential basis and will remain sealed until requested by international or national authorities for a “credible investigation,” and then possibly used for prosecution.

Pillay said she worries about striking the right balance in keeping the information secret. The evidence “rightly belongs to the people who suffered violations,” she said, but they also must be kept sealed “to preserve the presumption of innocence” until proper judicial probes can be done that could lead to trial.

Pillay said Syria and North Korea — the two countries being probed by a UN investigative panel — represent two of the world’s worst human rights violations.