Human Rights Watch accuses Syrian opposition of tortures

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armed opposition groups in Syria have kidnapped, tortured and executed members of the security forces and supporters of President Bashar al-Assad, the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday, March 20, Reuters reported.

The rights group condemned the tactics by opposition fighters, who have long accused government troops and loyalists of carrying out similar abuses.

"The Syrian government's brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in an open letter to dissident groups including the official opposition body the Syrian National Council (SNC).

Syria's armed opposition is highly fragmented and many militias do not appear to belong to an organised command structure or to be following SNC orders.

The year-long uprising in Syria, in which the United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed, started as a peaceful protest movement. But it has become increasingly violent with daily clashes between rebels and security forces around the country.

Analysts warn the uprising could degenerate into civil war, pitting Alawites against Sunni Muslims, who make up 75 percent of the 23-million population.

That it turn would add to strains along the Middle East's sectarian divide, with Assad's backer Iran, and Tehran's Shi'ite allies in Lebanon and Iraq, against the Sunni powers which dominate Arab governments from Egypt to the Gulf.