AP informs us that Pillay has said her UN office has collected reports that illustrate a "broad pattern of torture and ill-treatment" conducted in regime facilities.
Torture employed include beatings, burning and rape. Abuses which have often led to death. Such abuses by both sides in the ongoing war -- which has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people -- has led many to call for war crimes inquiries.
IOL News
has quoted Pillay explaining what this all means by quoting her saying the following,
"Our findings confirm that torture is being routinely used in government detention facilities in Syria, and that torture is also used by some armed groups. In armed conflict, torture constitutes a war crime. When it is used in a systematic or widespread manner, which is almost certainly the case in Syria, it also amounts to a crime against humanity."
Armed oppositions groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front (an Al-Qaeda affiliate) have used torture against civilians on numerous occasions throughout the bloody conflict and violence which continues to plague Syria.
Nevertheless Reuters
last week carried a report whereby Pillay said that the abuses carried out by the regime far outweigh the ones carried out by such armed opposition groups. She then stated that, "Clearly the actions of the forces of the government far outweigh the [rebel] violations. It's the government that is mostly responsible for the violations and all these perpetrators should be identified and can if there's a referral to the International Criminal Court."
