UN War Crime Investigation Team Wants Access to Syria

Chairperson of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Professor Paulo Pinheiro. Photo by npr.org

United Nations war crimes investigators have asked to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to seek access for their team.

The team, which has been denied access to Syria since being set up a year ago, has been gathering evidence and testimony on atrocities committed by the country's government forces and armed rebels during the conflict in Syria.

"We decided to send a letter to President al-Assad calling for a meeting ... it would be very important that he could receive us," Paulo Pinheiro, the Brazilian head of the team, has told reporters in Geneva, as cited by international media.

One of the investigation team's members, former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, told reporters in Geneva that without a doubt "crimes against humanity and war crimes" were being committed in Syria, where Assad's regime has been seeking to crush an uprising that began in March 2011.

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