U.N. has list of top Syrian leaders for crimes probe

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations has a secret list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation for crimes against humanity carried out by security forces in Syria’s crackdown on an uprising, a panel of U.N. human rights experts said Thursday.

The U.N. experts indicated the list goes as high as President Bashar Assad.

Thousands of Syrians have died in the violence since March, and the panel, citing what it called a reliable source, said at least 500 children are among the dead.

“A reliable body of evidence exists that, consistent with other verified circumstances, provides reasonable grounds to believe that particular individuals, including commanding officers and officials at the highest levels of government, bear responsibility for crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations,” said the report by the U.N.-appointed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

It said the panel gave the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights a sealed envelope containing the names of these people for future investigations. It doesn’t say who these investigating authorities might be, but the U.N.’s top human rights official previously has called for Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The panel, led by Brazilian Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said its list also identifies some armed opposition cells thought to have committed gross abuses.

Experts say the list is likely to be more of a deterrent against further abuses than a direct threat to the Assad regime. Syria isn’t a member of the ICC, so the court’s jurisdiction doesn’t apply there, and Russia likely would block any moves in the U.N. Security Council to refer the country to the tribunal.

But Andrea Bianchi, a professor of international law at Geneva’s Graduate Institute, said anyone on the U.N. list might still be arrested and prosecuted if they traveled from Syria to a country that has signed up to the international court.

“Personally, if I were on that list, I would worry,” he said.

The language of the report — which is expected to be debated at a special meeting of the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva next week — also provides specific support for international military intervention in Syria, Mr. Bianchi said.

Last year, the U.N. Security Council invoked “the responsibility to protect” when it established a no-fly zone over Libya. Russia and China abstained from that decision and subsequently criticized Western governments’ interpretation of the U.N. mandate, which led to a monthslong NATO bombing campaign against Libyan military facilities.

Still, regional coalitions could invoke the principle to launch limited military action against Syria outside a U.N. framework.

“One of the triggers for the responsibility to protect is for crimes against humanity to be committed in a country,” Mr. Bianchi said.

International pressure has been building on Mr. Assad’s government to halt its violent suppression of the opposition. Earlier this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross called for temporary cease-fires so it could reach those trapped and wounded in the worst-affected areas.

But human rights groups say the violence is only increasing, with dozens dying every day from government shelling of cities such as Homs, a rebel stronghold.

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