GENEVA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A UN Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday reported that civilians in Syria's eastern Ghouta experienced immense physical and psychological harm while enduring near daily bombardments and extreme deprivations, in some cases leading to preventable deaths.
In a 23-page report released Wednesday, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria called the five-year long siege of eastern Ghouta the longest one in modern history and condemned this method of warfare as "barbaric and medieval".
Urging all parties to the conflict in Syria to desist from resorting to sieges in the future, the Commission said that the cumulative physical and psychological harm wrought by the five-year siege continues to impact negatively hundreds of thousands of Syrian men, women, and children countrywide.
According to the report, dramatically escalating their military campaign to recapture the besieged enclave between February and April, pro-Government forces carried out aerial and ground bombardments which claimed the lives of hundreds of Syrians.
"It is completely abhorrent that besieged civilians were indiscriminately attacked, and systematically denied food and medicine," said Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro.
"What is clear from the terminal phase of this siege is that no warring party acted to protect the civilian population", he continued.
Between February and April, besieged armed groups and terrorist organisations also relentlessly fired unguided mortars into neighbouring Damascus city and nearby areas, killing and maiming hundreds of Syrian civilians, the report found.
The report notes that, by the time Government forces declared eastern Ghouta successfully recaptured on April 14, some 140,000 individuals were displaced from their homes, tens of thousands of whom are being unlawfully interned by Government forces in managed sites throughout Rif Damascus.
The report is scheduled to be presented on June 26 during an interactive dialogue at the 38th session of the Human Rights Council.
