Switzerland has condemned Friday’s massacre in the Syrian region of Houla that left more than 90 people dead, including 32 children. It has called for an international investigation and punishment of those responsible.
The foreign ministry on Sunday said Switzerland would work within the United Nations to ensure that the “perpetrators of this heinous massacre, which could meet the definition of a war crime” be brought to justice.
It said the members of the UN Security Council should immediately call on the International Criminal Court to carry out an investigation.
Switzerland also confirmed its support for the plan of UN Special Envoy and the Arab League, Kofi Annan.
“Only this can stop the Syrian crisis peacefully,” the foreign ministry statement said, adding that the Syrian government must immediately implement all elements of the plan, including access for humanitarian organisations to the civilian victims.
Syrian denial
The Syrian government denied on Sunday that its troops were behind the attack on a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead, blaming the killings on “hundreds of heavily armed gunmen” who also attacked soldiers in the area.
Friday’s assault on Houla, an area northwest of the central city of Homs, was one of the bloodiest single events in Syria’s 15-month-old uprising.
The UN says 32 children under the age of ten were among the dead. The international body and others have issued statements appearing to hold the Syrian regime responsible, but all stopped well short of suggesting intervention.
Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a Damascus news conference that Syria was being subjected to a “tsunami of lies” on Houla.
„We categorically deny the responsibility of government forces for the massacre,“ Makdissi said.
Outrage
The Houla attacks sparked outrage from US and other international leaders and renewed concerns about the relevance of a month-old international peace plan that has not stopped almost daily violence.
The UN denounced the attacks in a statement that appeared to hold President Bashar Assad’s regime responsible, and the White House called the violence acts of “unspeakable and inhuman brutality”.
The UN put the death toll weeks ago at more than 9,000. Hundreds have been killed since.
Protests broke out in Syria in March 2011, sparked by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.
The first rallies were in the southern town of Deraa; troops opened fire on the protestors, killing several people.
Unrest then spread to other areas, and President Bashar al-Assad sent troops and tanks to try to quell it.
Demonstrators are calling for democracy and freedom and an end to the Assad regime.
The regime has blamed “armed gangs and terrorists” for the continuing violence.
The United Nations says more than 9,000 civilians have been killed since the outbreak of violence.
Thousands of people have been detained.
A number of countries, including Switzerland, have imposed sanctions on Syria and leading figures from the regime.
However, Russia and China have vetoed sanctions resolutions submitted to the UN Security Council.