DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – On February 7, Amnesty International issued a report accusing the Syrian authorities of killing 13,000 people at the Saydnaya prison.
"There are grounds to believe that in this case we are dealing with another attempt of disinformation of … intentionally false, ordered materials. One of those things that are called ‘fake news’ or information provocations," he said.
According to the ambassador, the report's claims of mass executions carried out in Syrian prisons are not substantiated.
Kinshchak said that the authors of the report admitted that some of their data came from the testimonies of unidentified and undisclosed sources.
"The management of the well-known NGO aspiring to reliability should be more precise and responsible about the data they use instead of spreading questionable information received from agenda-driven and untrustworthy sources," the ambassador said.
Kinshchak cited positive reviews on the interactions with the Syrian authorities given by the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"I have personally heard them speak positively about their cooperation with the Syrian authorities, which allow the workers of this reputable humanitarian organization to visit prisoners and talk to them, including in absence of the representatives of the prison administration. They have not told us anything about 'inhuman treatment of detainees'," the ambassador said.
Moscow called it "provocation".
Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.