Post by Focus on May 15, 2013 9:52:54 GMT
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called the eating of a dead Syrian soldier’s organ by a foreign-backed militant as a “truly atrocious act,” saying it should be investigated as a “war crime.”
“The video that has just emerged from Syria, apparently showing a rebel leader cutting out and biting the heart of a dead soldier, depicts a truly atrocious act,” Navi Pillay said on Tuesday in comments from Geneva.
Navi Pillay
On Sunday, the footage posted on the internet showed that Khalid al Hamad, known by his nom de guerre Abu Sakkar, cutting out some of the soldier's organs and biting into one. At the time of the filming, al Hamad believed that he was eating the man’s liver, but a surgeon who saw the video said the organ in question was actually a lung.
“Mutilating or desecrating corpses during a conflict is a war crime,” the High Commissioner said, adding, “I urge the armed opposition groups in Syria to do everything in their power to halt such gross crimes.”
Pillay also called for a probe into other serious violations by the foreign-backed militants in Syria, such as acts of torture, summary executions and extra-judicial killings.
WARNING- GRAPHIC IMAGES!!!
On Tuesday, al Hamad said in an interview with Time magazine conducted via Skype that the video is real and that he did indeed take a bite of the soldier’s lung.
Other Syrian militants condemned the "horrific and inhumane" action, saying he should be arrested or killed for committing the atrocity.
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
Of course it's a fcking WAR CRIME!!! - Will any action be taken??? - I doubt it!!! - Fx