UN investigators sharing Syria war crimes findings with European authorities

GENEVA — UN investigators have begun sharing details from their secret database on suspected war crimes in Syria with European authorities pursuing domestic court cases, they said on Tuesday.

The move could pave the way for perpetrators of killings, torture and atrocities on all sides to be brought to account. The aim is to sidestep the UN Security Council, where Russia and China have prevented abuse cases being sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the United Nations' commission of inquiry, urged national authorities to contact the independent investigators who have compiled five confidential lists over nearly four years.

Pinheiro and his team, which includes former UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, said last month they planned to publish names of suspects and push for new ways to bring them to justice.

But it stopped short on Tuesday of releasing the lists.

"We can best aid the pursuit of justice at this time through targeted disclosure. We will share names and information about specific alleged perpetrators with state prosecution authorities that are preparing cases to be heard before a competent and impartial judiciary," Pinheiro told the Human Rights Council.

Karen Koning AbuZayd, an American expert on the UN panel, told reporters: "We have responded to requests about incidents for example by using our data base. Of course it's a large data base... and much more interesting really than a list."

Three European countries have sought cooperation so far, AbuZayd said, declining to be specific. The UN panel had not shared information on any individual perpetrator. Del Ponte said requests for cooperation were "mainly about foreign fighters".

More than 200,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011 with peaceful protests against the rule of President Bashar Assad and mushroomed into civil war that has driven out 3.9 million refugees.

The investigators say their lists, kept in a UN safe, include military and security commanders and commanders of insurgent groups, and arose from interviews with 3,800 victims and witnesses.

Syrian Ambassador Hussam Edin Aala rejected what he called the "biased and selective approach" of UN investigators and said they had ignored crimes by Islamist insurgent groups.