The Citizen's Investigation Into War Crimes

The Citizen's Investigation into War Crimes in Libya (http://ciwclibya.org/) started its investigation into massacres and other war crimes in Libya during the Libyan civil war in 2011. From the summer of 2012 CIWCL has focused its efforts on Syria.

CIWCL conducts its investigations based on open-source material in an open and transparent process, currently using a research wiki (http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/). In addition to the evolving on-line material CIWCL has published a number reports on the massacres. These are available for download on the CIWCL site:

http://ciwclibya.org/reports.html

From the massacres investigated, a constant pattern has emerged: massacres of an ever increasing scale are committed by Islamist revolutionaries, gory videos of the victims are uploaded to social media like YouTube, along with accusations blaming the massacres on governments and their leaders, these claims are propagated by international human rights organizations, calling for punitive action, the "international community", lead by the West imposes sanction, and ultimately – war.

This pattern was first witnessed in the al-Baida massacre on February 23, 2011 that lead to UNSC resolution 1970 sanctioning Libya three days later. This pattern was repeated in Syria in the Houla massacre in May 2012 and again in the double massacres in Baniyas / al-Bayda in May 2013.

Starting in late 2012 a string of alleged chemical weapons incidents have been reported in Syria, each one of accompanied with calls for foreign intervention into the Syrian civil war. A large “attack” on the scale of the alleged Ghouta attack is thus no surprise for anyone following the developments. Throughout 2013 CIWCL has also been documenting the attempts to derail the UN investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/was-the-syria-chemical-weapons-probe-torpedoed-by-the-west/5333671

It has been argued, based mainly on circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, that the Ghouta chemical weapons attack is a false flag provocation aimed at igniting a regional war. This is the position taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, for such a claim to be substantiated it would have to be shown to be supported by the on-site evidence. So far, no comprehensive investigation into the events has emerged.

CIWCL is currently in the process of investigating the Ghouta incident.

Preliminary findings show that major parts of the Western narrative have little or no supporting evidence in the open-source material. Based on the available evidence, it is possible to hypothesize that no rocket attack happened, rather the toxic agents were released in “confined spaces.” 

It is our belief that the mystery cannot be solved by simple technical evidence or laboratory tests of the type carried out by the UN investigative team. Traces of sarin can be planted. Rockets can deliberately be fired in a false flag attack. The issue needs to be approached as a murder investigation; each death needs to be studied separately. The victims have to be identified. The time, place and cause of death have to be established. This work is currently on-going.

[borrowed from https://www.facebook.com/notes/citizens-investigation-into-war-crimes-in-libya-syria-ciwcl/ciwcl-presents-findings-on-ghouta-chemical-attack-moscow-sept-18/583783268352104]