Assad’s forces executing entire families: UN report

A UN panel said government forces are to blame for most rights abuses in the latest unrest sweeping Syria as a watchdog reported an 11th straight day of shelling of a rebel bastion.
The UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Syria said the army and security forces were behind the majority of serious abuses committed since March this year as they hunt down defectors and opponents.
"Most of the serious human rights violations documented by the Commission in this update were committed by the Syrian army and security services as part of military or search operations conducted in locations known for hosting defectors and/or armed persons, or perceived as supportive of anti-government armed groups," said the panel.
The commission, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, said "a clear pattern" had emerged of government blockades to "weed out" wanted people and their families, causing children to die for lack of adequate health care.
In some of these operations, the report says, entire families have been executed. The investigators also say torture in detention, including of children, continues.
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