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U.S. To Fund Study Documenting Syrian Rights Abuses

April 02, 2012

by RFE/RL

The United States has said it will help fund a new initiative to document alleged human rights abuses committed during the Syrian government's bloody crackdown on protesters.

According to the U.S. State Department, Washington is contributing $1.25 million to a "Syria Accountability Clearinghouse."

The aim is to create a database of evidence on abuses and "develop case dossiers that could support prosecutions in Syrian, hybrid, or international courts."

The initiative would also train Syrian investigators and activists to document abuses.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland says the project will not spare opposition fighters accused of wrongdoing.

Nonetheless, it is aimed primarily at "regime elements who are continuing not only to obey the orders [of President Bashar al-Assad] to fire on their own people, but are also committing gross abuses themselves."

With AFP reporting

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/us_to_fund_syria_rights_abuses_study/24535461.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.