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UN: 'Reasonable Grounds' to Believe Chemical Weapons Used in Syria

by VOA News June 04, 2013

A new United Nations report says there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe a limited amount of chemical weapons have been used in Syria, while pro-government and opposition fighters continue to commit human rights violations.

Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stressed the human toll of the two-year conflict as he presented the report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

'Crimes that shock the conscience have become a daily reality. Humanity has been the casualty of this war. Syria needs not a military surge, Syria needs a diplomatic surge. We cannot continue to sit idly by and watch this catastrophe unfold,' he said.

The commission's report says there is not enough evidence to determine which chemical agents have been used in Syria or who deployed them. It says those conclusions would require testing victims and collecting samples at the site of four alleged attacks.

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The report urges Syria to allow a team of U.N. investigators into the country to investigate chemical weapons use. The Syrian government has said investigators would only be able to visit one site.

Both the government and rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad have accused each other of using chemical weapons.

The commission also cautioned Tuesday that adding weapons to the conflict would raise the risk of human rights violations. Pinheiro says evidence from the past two years shows an escalation in fighting that has had 'devastating consequences for civilians.'

'A military stalemate has prevailed. It is a great illusion that more weapons will tip the balance between the two parties. No one is winning [or] will win this war. More weapons will only lead to more civilians dead and wounded,' he said.

Pinheiro said the conflict in Syria 'is becoming more horrific every day.'

The European Union amended its arms embargo on Syria one week ago, clearing the way for future shipments of weapons to rebel fighters.

The U.N. commission said both sides in Syria are guilty of human-rights abuses, but that violations by rebels have never reached the intensity and scale of those carried out by pro-government forces.

Russia and the EU held a second day of talks Tuesday, overshadowed by friction caused by the EU's backing for the Syrian opposition and Moscow's continued support for Mr. Assad. The summit is taking place as Russia and the United States continue to try to arrange an international peace conference to bring together both the Damascus government and the opposition pushing to oust the Syrian leader.

Meanwhile, Syrian officials and activists said shellfire near the Russian embassy in Damascus killed a civilian and wounded an unknown number of security forces.

Opposition rebels have targeted the Russian embassy several times with rocket and mortar fire, but Tuesday's attack was the nearest they came to a direct hit.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.