In the early years of Syria’s brutal conflict, top government officials established and directed paramilitary groups known as “shabbiha” to help the state crack down on opponents, war crimes investigators say.
In a report, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability published seven documents its investigators said showed the highest levels of Syria’s government “planned, organized, instigated and deployed” the “shabbiha” from the start of the war in 2011.
UN investigators in 2012 concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe “shabbiha” militias committed crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, and war crimes such as arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, and pillaging.
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