The US Department of State released a new report on "crimes of the Assad regime" in Syria. Acting Assistant Chief of Staff Stewart Jones read out the main provisions of the document at a briefing by the State Department, RIA Novosti reports..

Over the past six-odd years of the civil war, the Syrian authorities have committed numerous violations of international law, including rules on the conduct of armed conflicts and human rights, a State Department spokesman said..

According to him, Washington's position on the guilt of the Assad regime in bombing, including the use of chemical weapons, as well as in extrajudicial executions and illegal imprisonment of opposition representatives, remains unchanged. Also, according to Jones, the Syrian authorities staged in the prison a gray crematorium for "hiding the executions of prisoners".

The State Department report is based on data from human rights organizations and intelligence from the US.

The West has repeatedly accused the Assad government of committing war crimes against civilians. According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, in the Sednaya prison in the period from 2011 to 2013, the Syrian authorities executed from five to 13 thousand people. Damascus refuted this data.

In early April, the Syrian opposition reported numerous victims of the use of chemical weapons in the city of Khan-Sheikhun in the province of Idlib, accusing the government forces of the incident.

Without waiting for an investigation of this tragedy, the US Navy ships launched dozens of cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield, from which allegedly the Himataka. Damascus denies any involvement in what happened in Idlib.

The Russian Federation does not share the US position, calling for a thorough investigation of all known cases of such crimes against civilians.

In turn, the representative of the State Department urged Russia to use its influence on the "Assad regime" in order to stop violence in Syria.