UN panel accuses Assad, Syria officials for 'crimes against humanity'

GENEVA - The Associated Press

Wounded men are seen in the Sunni Muslim district of Baba Amro in Homs in this Feb 8, 2012 file handout photo. REUTERS

A panel of U.N. experts has drawn up a list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation over crimes against humanity and is indicating that the list goes as high as President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.N. experts say they have reliable evidence that Syrian army officers and "officials at the highest levels of government" are responsible for "crimes against humanity and other gross human right violations."

The panel led by Brazilian professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said today it has given the U.N. human rights office in Geneva a sealed envelope containing the names of individuals and army units who could be probed.

The list also contains some opposition groups it says committed abuses "not comparable in scale and organization with those carried out by the state."