The UN Human Rights Commission said large-scale human rights abuses have been perpetrated by both sides in the Syrian conflict, and that evidence implicates the highest level of government. Fighters from the Al Nusrah Front, Kabhat Tahrir al-Qalamoun, the al-Ghuraba’ brigade, the Tahrir al-sham brigade, and the al-Umariya brigade have taken over the ancient Christian town of Maaloula in Reef Dimashq. A terrorism court in Damascus executed 12 men for “crimes against the nation.” The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, which took over the Church of Armenian Martyrs in Raqqah, has converted it into a proselytizing office. Al Nusrah, Islamic Bayt al-Maqdis, Amud Houran brigade, al-Umari brigade, and the Badr Horan brigade seized an armament battalion base in Deraa. An activist group estimates that more than 5,000 regular soldiers and pro-regime militants are being held captive by rebel fighters and ISIS. A video featuring a German jihadist urging Germans to fight in Syria was released by ISIS.
