A/HRC/23/58 50. Reasonable grounds exist to believe that the war crime of murder was committed in two massacres perpetrated by government forces and affiliated militia, and one perpetrated by anti-government armed groups. The killing in Baniyas and Sanamayn match the pattern of widespread attacks on a civilian population by the Government and may therefore amount to murder as a crime against humanity. In incidents that remain under investigation, the fact of the killing was confirmed. However, neither the perpetrator nor the circumstances could be determined. B. 1. Other unlawful killing Summary executions and the war crime of murder 51. Patterns of summary executions and murder have emerged. Detained persons believed to be opposition sympathizers are the most frequent victims of such crimes. Revenge killings have become increasingly common and are a direct violation of the prohibition of reprisals. Killing civilians by sniper fire and the killing of hostages and detainees when a detention centre comes under attack are noted patterns of violations by both pro- and anti-government groups. 2. Government forces and affiliated militia 52. More than 200 bodies have been recovered from a waterway in Queiq (Aleppo) since 81 bodies were first discovered there on 29 January. One doctor described having personally seen 140 bodies. Many victims had gone missing in Government-controlled areas of the city. Some of those recovered had been in detention by either Air Force Intelligence or Military Intelligence. Family members discovered as much by paying bribes to the intelligence agencies for unofficial information or because other detainees released from the facilities confirmed their presence. 53. In January, in Dara’a, two men were detained in a house occupied by Military Security in Al Shajarah. Military Security withdrew on 16 March. The following day, relatives found the men in the house, shot dead and bearing clear signs of torture. In January, two men were shot dead at a checkpoint near Kherbet Ghazalah bridge, and a third was heavily injured. The injured man was then killed by soldiers. 54. Field executions continued to be reported during large-scale military operations. One interviewee, whose regiment conducted operations in Al Waar and Bab Amr (Homs), described executing civilians, including two young children, in their homes so that they would not give away the soldiers’ location to nearby FSA fighters. 3. Anti-government armed groups 55. Video footage emerged showing a child participating in the decapitation of two kidnapped men. Subsequent investigation confirmed the authenticity of the video and that the men were soldiers, killed as depicted. It was not possible to identify the perpetrators. Evidence indicates that the Usud Al-Tawhid Brigade committed the initial kidnapping. 56. Three separate incidents of killing by sniper fire attributed to anti-government armed groups were recorded in Damascus. In February, and on 7 and 20 April, three children, including a toddler, were killed in Sayda Zaynab. On 19 April, another youth was killed in Al-Bahdaliya. 57. Government forces and affiliated militia and anti-government armed groups have perpetrated the war crime of murder and the human rights violation of summary execution. Murders by government forces were part of a widespread attack against a civilian population amounting to a crime against humanity. Despoiling bodies of the deceased, 11