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Conflict in Syria

Russian diplomat slams Amnesty International’s report on Syria as provocation

Amnesty International issued a report saying that the Syrian government was carrying out a campaign of extrajudicial executions by mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Moscow believes Amnesty International’s report on extrajudicial executions allegedly carried out by the Syrian government at Saydnaya Prison to be a provocation and misinformation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"We have seen this report. It’s a pity it comes at a moment crucial for the process of solving the Syrian crisis," the diplomat said.

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"In fact, this is just another deliberate provocation aimed at adding fuel to the fading fire of the Syrian conflict and raising tensions again and make the Syrian people hate each other more," Zakharova stressed. "Those who compiled this fake report are not even bothered by the fact that the huge number of victims they are citing is a result of some calculations based on testimonies made by unnamed individuals."

"In our opinion, this respected organization could and should adopt a more responsible manner while assessing the fantasies of the organization’s Lebanese branch," the Russian diplomat went on to say.

Amnesty International issued a report saying that the Syrian government was carrying out a campaign of extrajudicial executions by mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison. According to the report, "between 2011 and 2015, every week and often twice a week, groups of up to 50 people were taken out of their prison cells and hanged to death. In five years, as many as 13,000 people, most of them civilians believed to be opposed to the government, were hanged in secret at Saydnaya." Amnesty International also said that the Syrian government was "deliberately inflicting inhuman conditions on detainees at Saydnaya Prison through repeated torture and the systematic deprivation of food, water, medicine and medical care.".

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