No escaping justice

A just-released UN report titled “Out of sight, out of mind: deaths in detention” said detainees held by the Syrian government are being killed on massive scale, amounting to a deliberate state policy of “extermination”, which qualifies as a crime against humanity.

It called on the Security Council to impose “targeted sanctions” on high-ranking Syrian civilian and military officials responsible for or complicit in the death, torture and disappearance in custody.

The independent experts covered the period between March 2011 and November 2015; their findings were the result of interviews with hundreds of survivors and witnesses, as well as evidence gathered by the team.

Besides the detainees killed in custody, the UN commission also documented mass executions and torture of prisoners held by Jabhat Al Nusra Front and Daesh, acts that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The disturbing findings cannot be addressed by the UN Security Council as long as the Damascus regime has the unequivocal support of Russia, a veto-wielding power at the UN.

But it can still impress on the perpetrators of crimes the fact that they will eventually be held accountable, that they cannot escape with impunity.

The UN team deserves to be commended for exposing the crimes against humanity that occur in Syria. The UN will have to take the issue from here and at least try to do something about it.

The Syrian people will never forget or forgive the commission of the horrible crimes we hear about, and the day will come, no doubt, when those responsible for them will receive the deserved punishment.

Contemporary history is full of precedents whereby heinous crimes committed against innocent people are dealt with, no matter how much time elapses since their commission.

The statute of limitation does not apply to crimes against humanity or war crimes.

At the end of the day justice will be rendered.