UN: Syria has become a "torture-chamber"
GENEVA -- The top UN human rights official called on Tuesday for the release of tens of thousands of detainees held in Syria's prisons and said that bringing perpetrators of crimes including torture to court was vital for reaching a lasting peace.
"Today in a sense the entire country has become a torture-chamber; a place of savage horror and absolute injustice," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein told the UN Human Rights Council.
"Ensuring accountability, establishing the truth and providing reparations must happen if the Syrian people are ever to find reconciliation and peace. This cannot be negotiable," he told the Geneva forum at the start of a session on Syria.
