UN investigators to share Syria war crimes suspects

GENEVA: UN investigators offered on Tuesday to share names from secret lists of alleged Syria war criminals with prosecutors to help end the “culture of impunity” in the country.
The commission of inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria has been compiling lists of people suspected of committing war crimes in the brutal Syrian conflict for the past four years, but kept them secret for use in future prosecution. The investigators have repeatedly appealed to a blocked UN Security Council to refer the cases to the International Criminal Court, but in vain.
Frustrated with the standstill, the head of the commission Paulo Pinheiro said on Tuesday that the investigators would share names from the lists with prosecutors in any country preparing cases.
Presenting the commission’s latest report on the situation in Syria to the UN Human Rights Council, Pinheiro urged national authorities preparing to try cases linked to the conflict in the country to get in touch.
“We will share names and information about specific alleged perpetrators with state prosecution authorities that are preparing cases to be heard before a competent and impartial judiciary,” he said.
The commission has drawn up four lists of individuals and groups it believes are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria over the course of the bloody conflict.