Experts: Syria chemical weapons likely

A panel of experts has declared that Syria is in "free-fall" as brutality in the country's two-year civil war escalates and more evidence surfaces that government or rebel forces -- or both -- may have used chemical weapons.

"War crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality in Syria, where the harrowing accounts of victims have seared themselves on our conscience," said a report issued Tuesday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

The 29-page report comes as the United States and Russia prepare to open a United Nations-sponsored conference in Geneva Wednesday to bring both sides of the conflict to the table in an effort to forge a diplomatic solution.

It also comes on the heels of the signing by dozens of nations Monday of the international Arms Trade Treaty. Once ratified, that agreement will regulate the sale and transfer of arms to prevent them from falling into the hands of combatants who would commit war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

Some experts believe that Syria, which is awash in weapons supplied to both sides, would not have spiraled out of control if the arms transfers had not been allowed to take place.

"Syria is in a free-fall," said Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the commission, who delivered the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, according to a UN report of his presentation. "No one is winning and will not win the war. More weapons will only lead to more civilians dead and wounded."

UN estimates place the death toll at 80,000 since a government response to peaceful protests in the spirit of the Arab Spring in March 2011 devolved into armed clashes with civilians.

The report, which covers the period from Jan. 15 to May 15, noted that while the panel believes that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by government forces and rebels, the bulk of the violations were committed by government forces.

Early last month, the group, which has not visited Syria, but has conducted about 430 interviews for the report, said it could not determine whether chemical weapons had been used.

But it said in the most recent report that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used" four times.

Those four instances are alleged to have occurred in Khan Al-Asal, Aleppo, on March 19, in Uteibah, Damascus, the same day, in the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood of Aleppo on April 13 and in Saraqib, Idlib, April 29.

The allegations have not been fully confirmed or disproved, partly because Syrian authorities have not allowed another UN expert panel to enter the country to test the sites.

"It is, therefore, of utmost importance that the Panel of Experts, led by Professor [Åke] Sellström and assembled under the Secretary-general's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, is granted full access to Syria," the report said, referring to the leader of the other expert panel awaiting access to sites and alleged victims in Syria.

Syrian officials maintain they have not used chemical weapons, but there is evidence that they have been used in at least one attack. But Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, said government officials are reluctant to allow the expert panel to expand its scope beyond the one case where the government says it has evidence of an attack.

"A diplomatic surge is the only path to a political settlement," the report declared. "Negotiations must be inclusive, and must represent all facets of Syria's cultural mosaic."