UN investigators call for political settlement to Syria conflict

The International Commission of Inquiry on Syria Wednesday called for a cessation of hostilities by warring parties in the more than two-year conflict and a return to negotiations. In its latest report, the commission said that Syrian government and pro-government forces have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the civilian population, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance as crimes against humanity. They have laid siege to neighborhoods and subjected them to indiscriminate shelling, said the report, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council's ongoing session on Sept. 16. It said that the government forces have committed gross violations of human rights and the war crimes of torture, hostage-taking, murder, execution without due process, rape, attacking protected objects and pillage. Meanwhile, anti-government armed groups have also committed war crimes, including murder, execution without due process, torture, hostage-taking and attacking protected objects. They have besieged and indiscriminately shelled civilian neighborhoods. The report, which covered the period from May 15 to July 15, also found that anti-government and Kurdish armed groups have recruited and used child soldiers in hostilities. The report also contained a section examining the conduct of warring parties in and around the town of al-Qusayr in May and June 2013. In a statement released by the commission Wednesday, it said that there is an urgent need for a cessation of hostilities and a return to negotiations, leading to a political settlement. "To elect military action in Syria will not only intensify the suffering inside the country but will also serve to keep such a settlement beyond our collective reach," it said. It said that the nature of the war raging in Syria is such that the number of violations by all sides goes hand in hand with the intensity of the conflict itself. "With the spectre of international military involvement, Syria - and the region - face further conflagration, leading to increased civilian suffering," it said. The commission of inquiry was established in September 2011 by the Human Rights Council to investigate all alleged human rights violations since March 2011 in Syria. The council decided to extend the commission's mandate for the first time in September 2012. It extended its the mandate for another one year in March.