US ambassador to UN demands information on Syria detainees

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The US ambassador to the UN on Tuesday demanded that Syria make the status of detainees public and return any bodies of the dead to their families.

"At least 14,000 Syrians have been reportedly tortured and tens of thousands forcibly disappeared," Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a UN General Assembly debate on human rights.

"We demand that the status of all those detained be made public and we demand that the bodies of the deceased be returned to their loved ones with the time, place and cause of death," Thomas-Greenfield said.

The 193-member body heard testimony from several survivors who demanded that the international community hold Syrian perpetrators of abuse responsible. Russia, Syria’s main ally, has repeatedly used its veto power to protect Damascus from any such measures, however.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "continues to imprison tens of thousands of innocent Syrians, women, children, the elderly, doctors, aid providers, journalists, human rights defenders," Thomas-Greenfield said. "These innocent civilians are denied fair trials, are subject to torture, sexual violence and inhuman conditions," she added.