France urges investigation into Syrian regime incineration of prisoners

France said yesterday that it had received with “concern and horror” US accusations against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad of burning the bodies of detainees in Sednaya prison, demanding the international community to “open an international investigation as soon as possible” into the allegations.

Acting assistant secretary for the US State Department Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones told reporters, referring to the Sednaya prison north of Damascus:

Beginning in 2013, the Syrian regime modified a building within the Sednaya complex to support what we believe is a crematorium. Although the regime’s many atrocities are well documented, we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of the mass murders taking place in Sednaya.

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry, Roman Nadal, said on Tuesday in remarks quoted by local media that the US accusations are “extremely dangerous” and added that the Syrian regime is “dragging a heavy asset of terror” pointing out that his country “calls for the opening of an international investigation into the Sednaya prison as soon as possible.”

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He also called on the Syrian regime’s allies, especially Russia, to use their influence over Damascus to allow access to an international fact-finding commission as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Washington has accused Damascus of burning the bodies of a number of detainees in recent years who are suspected of having been tortured to death in the infamous prison.

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The US State Department revealed “declassified” satellite images showing the Sednaya prison compound north of the Syrian capital Damascus along with the crematorium that it alleges the Assad regime is using to disguise mass killings and crimes against humanity.