A/HRC/21/50 II. Anti-Government armed groups 42. The commission documented instances of anti-Government forces killing captured members of the Government forces and Shabbiha and suspected informers. While the human rights legal regime differs with respect to non-state actors such as the antiGovernment armed groups, IHL applies equally to all parties in a conflict. Thus, killing protected persons or enemy soldiers who are hors de combat is illegal and can attract individual criminal responsibility.m 43. Members of anti-Government armed groups have admitted killing Government soldiers after capture when the captives refused to join them or if they were deemed to have ―blood on their hands‖. The commission documented incidents involving anti-Government armed groups — specifically the FSA — primarily in Homs, including the Bab Amr and Khaldiyah neighborhoods during the February 2012 siege, and in Al-Qusayr in June 2012. 44. Despite its limited access to victims of anti-Government armed groups, the commission documented anti-Government fighters having killed captured Government soldiers and Shabbiha who had admitted, probably under duress, to taking part in shelling or military attacks. Homs Governorate, June 2012 45. In Qusayr, the FSA commanders decided to attack the municipality to dislodge Government snipers. The attack succeeded and the FSA captured 22 Government soldiers. One interviewee told the CoI that the detainees were judged by a judicial committee. Some were released to join their families. Some were executed as they were found guilty. 46. In early June 2012, FSA fighters attacked a garrison near Talbisah. Apparently in coordination with Government forces soldiers inside, the FSA overran the location, took the ammunition and weapons and left with a number of defecting soldiers. According to an eyewitness who was in the army at the time, but who later defected, two Alawite soldiers were executed during the raid. He and others found their bodies inside. 47. A defector who fought in the ranks of the FSA-affiliated Al Farouk Brigade in Homs city stated that members of the Government forces, including those he claimed were three Iranian snipers, were summarily executed after they apparently confessed to killing Syrians. Aleppo governorate, June 2012 48. The commission viewed video footage that portrayed the bodies of approximately 20 men, allegedly Shabbiha, who had been killed by the anti-Government fighters in Aleppo governorate in mid-June. 49. The commission interviewed 10 FSA soldiers who had never heard of IHL or IHRL. One FSA fighter told the commission: “We do not leave them alone until we kill them. Either they finish us or we finish them. We do not let them go and continue to kill people. We do not take prisoners, no one comes out alive. If he manages to escape he will come back to kill me.” 50. Another FSA fighter interviewed stated that when senior military officers are captured they are exchanged for detained members of anti-Government armed groups. However, if the FSA captures an ordinary officer or soldier, ―they are interrogated and submitted to trial where Sharia law is applied‖. The interviewee provided information on m 76 See annex II.