The Syrian government has carried out a deliberate policy of “extermination” against thousands of civilian detainees amounting to crimes against humanity, a newly released United Nations report said on Monday. Government-held detainees were tortured and beaten to death or died as a result of “inhuman” living conditions, such as lack of water, food, or medical care. The government is also responsible for enforced disappearances, rape and other forms of sexual violence. The report also documents violations carried out by some anti-government groups, such as setting up makeshift detention centers where government soldiers were “ill-treated and executed.” The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra is highlighted as conducting mass executions of government soldiers and torturing detainees. The so-called Islamic State is also highlighted as carrying out massive killings and rights violations. The findings are based on 621 interviews with witnesses and a large amount of documentary material, covering the period between March 2011 and 30 November 2015. The UN investigators suspect that tens of thousands of people reside in Syrian government jails at any one time where state forces have “engaged in the multiple commissions of crimes, amounting to a systematic and widespread attack…
