Russia rejects UN report asserting war crimes in Syria

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday slammed the UN report accusing Moscow and Damascus of war crimes in Syria.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov said the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria based its report on data from social networks and anonymous sources, "which cannot be checked and therefore cannot be reliable."

The minister added that the commission was established by non-consensual decision and its mandate and methods of work provokes a lot of questions.

"The decision to establish this commission was pushed by Western countries that have taken a course for regime change in Syria. By voting in the UN Human Rights Council, a mechanism was created with the goal of searching for dirt on Damascus and those they call ‘allies of Damascus’," he said.

Moscow stands for the necessity to examine any issues of any conflict basing it on trustworthy particulars and data, which can be confirmed by the body providing them, Lavrov said.

"This commission cannot vouch for the authenticity of its information," the minister said.

On Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a report that Syrian and Russian warplanes had carried out airstrikes on civilian population in Idlib which amounted to war crimes.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.