A report released by war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts points to thousands of “photographs of dead bodies and alleged detainees killed in Syrian government custody” as “direct evidence” of torture by the Bashar al-Assad government.
According to CNN, “the bodies in the photographs showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing.”
Out of the group of 150 photographed individuals examined by experts, “62% of the bodies showed emaciation.” The majority of the individuals were “men most likely aged 20 to 40.”
Desmond de Silva is “one of the three lawyers who authored the report”; he says the photographs are “reminiscent of the pictures of those [who] were found still alive in the Nazi death camps after World War II.”
CNN made clear it “cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the photographs, documents, and testimony referenced in the report.” The lawyers who wrote the report were “hired… by the British law firm Carter-Ruck, which in turn was funded by the Government of Qatar.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.
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