Violence in Syria has reached "new heights of destruction," independent U.N. human rights investigators said in a new report which urges a political solution to what has become an increasingly militarized and sectarian conflict.
"There is an urgent need for a sustained diplomatic initiative to put an end to the violence and the suffering of the Syrian population," the Chair of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, said while presenting the report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"If the national, regional, and international actors fail to find a solution to the conflict and stop the agony of millions of civilians, the alternative will be the political, economic and social destruction of Syria and its society, with devastating implications for the region and the world," Pinheiro warned, speaking on behalf of the four-member Commission.
He added that "the war displays all the signs of a destructive stalemate" where neither the government nor anti-government forces have been able to prevail militarily and are thus escalating force "in the fallacious belief that victory is within reach."
The Commission concluded that the main cause of civilian casualties, mass displacement and destruction "is the reckless manner in which parties to the conflict conduct hostilities," including indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment.
The 10-page update, which is based on firsthand accounts from 191 interviews conducted last month, describes a dramatic erosion of civilian space with mass displacement exacerbated by diminishing areas in which civilians can seek refuge.
Up to 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011 and about a million people have fled to neighboring countries. In addition, two million have been internally displaced and over four million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The report notes in particular the use of medical care as a tactic of war. Medical personnel and hospitals have been deliberately targeted and are treated by parties to the conflict as military objectives, the Commission notes, adding that medical access has been denied in certain cases "on real or perceived political and sectarian grounds."
In addition, the human rights investigations call attention to the so-called "Popular Committees," which comprise local residents who reportedly protect their neighborhoods against anti-government armed groups and criminal gangs.
"In a disturbing and dangerous trend, mass killings allegedly perpetrated by Popular Committees have at times taken on sectarian overtones," the Commission writes.
The report also notes at least three massacres reportedly committed in Homs governorate since December 2012, noting that the bodies of those killed or executed are often desecrated, by being burned or dumped in waterways, making identification difficult. Despite a lack of access, the Commission said it was investigating approximately 20 cases of alleged massacres.
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