A yearlong analysis by the FBI has concluded that the torture photographs of Syrian political prisoners are authentic, providing powerful new evidence to support charges of the Assad regime’s extensive human rights violations.
The photographs, smuggled out of Syria by a defector two years ago, show no evidence of being manipulated and “appear to depict real people and events,” the FBI concluded in a report compiled at the request of the State Department.
A top State Department official said the FBI report could provide fresh impetus for international war crimes prosecutors to bring criminal charges against top Syrian officials.
The FBI report is “very significant,” said Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Washington-based group that helped smuggle the photos out of Syria. “It verifies that the Syrian regime is engaged in genocidal massacres in its jails. These are still going on today — and we’re not doing anything about it.”
The Syrian Coalition said that the photos provide compelling evidence that the Assad regime is the arch-terrorist in the region and can never be a partner in the battle against terror. “We call on the international community and human rights organizations to take immediate steps to bring perpetrators of these crimes to account. Keeping silent over these atrocities taking place inside Assad’s prisons is tantamount to participating in them. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
