Assad regime killed 5,200 civilians in Homs hospital, new documents reveal

The Syrian opposition released new documents proving that Bashar Al-Assad's regime was involved in war crimes against civilians in a hospital in Homs.

During a news conference in Istanbul, The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) on Saturday presented documents proving the regime's hand in the killing of 5,210 people in Abdul Qader Al-Shaqfa Hospital in the Al-Waer district of the central Homs city, according to Anadolu news agency.

Nasr Al-Hariri, the president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said the documents were leaked by someone who worked in the hospital who currently lives in a rebel-held area.

He alleged they were issued by the Assad regime as they have stamps of forensic medicine, hospital administration and regime's security services.

Al-Hariri stressed that the SOC will work with the United Nations, European Union, United States, United Kingdom and the UN’s Human Rights Council, along with other international organisations to establish to hold the Assad regime accountable for the deaths.

The Syrian conflict began in 2011 after the regime led by dictator Bashar Al-Assad brutally repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests. His father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria with an iron fist from 1971 until he died in 2000.

Around 1.2 million Syrians, or one in 18 of the population, are thought to have been arrested or detained at some point in the war. The Assad regime is notorious for its systematic torture and murder of prisoners. 

The regime has also forcibly disappeared tens of thousands of people believed to be critical of the regime. 

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that in April alone, there were 147 cases of arbitrary detention with the Syrian regime said to be responsible for 56 of these cases.