A UN-appointed panel of experts alleged in a report released Thursday that the Syrian security forces were responsible for bulk of human rights violations committed in the Middle East nation since the popular uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
Nevertheless, the panel said in the report that it has also documented several cases of unlawful killings, torture and abuses by anti-government armed groups, along with numerous others committed by the Syrian security forces.
In its report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria noted that Syrian government forces have killed people unlawfully during anti-government demonstrations in cities and towns like Idlib, Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Damascus and Dar'a and in "numerous villages throughout the country".
The report claimed that the conflict in Syria was becoming increasingly militarized despite the deployment of some 300 UN monitors in the unrest-hit Middle East nation to observe the implementation of a previously agreed ceasefire as well a plan proposed by joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan for ending the crisis.
Annan's peace plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.
The UN panel's report also described in detail how the Syrian security forces block villages and towns and carry out door-to-door searches for opposition activists and rebel fighters. It added that entire families have been executed in several cases during such operations.
The UN estimates that more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the popular unrest against the rule of President Assad began in March 2011. Nevertheless, the Assad government blames "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign mercenaries for the violence.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.