Syria boycotted a hearing by the United Nations' main anti-torture body on Wednesday 

Wednesday's session at the Committee Against Torture went ahead without anyone in Syria's chair and a second session scheduled for Friday, when Syria was supposed to respond to accusations, was cancelled.

Accusations against Syria, read out by the committee's chairman Claudio Grossman, included the rape of boys, the use of snipers, electroshocks to the anus, forced oral sex, attacks on demonstrators being treated in hospitals, the use of heavy weapons in built-up areas and summary executions.

"We've rarely if ever had evidence of the scope and detail of this routine usage in prisons," said one of the committee's vice chairperson Felice Gaer during the session.

"While we wait for a political solution that is not forthcoming, we're seeing denials of physical integrity and of human life," said another vice chairperson Essadia Belmir.

"People's dignity depends on it, as does the credibility of the entire UN system." [Reuters]