Photos that allegedly show the Syrian regime committing mass torture are `` fake , '' Syria 's Justice Ministry said Wednesday . In a statement on the state news agency SANA , the Justice Ministry categorically denied allegations published in a new report accusing the regime of torturing and killing thousands of detainees in government custody . The statement branded the report `` politicized and lacking in objectivity and professionalism '' and said some of the photos are of `` foreign terrorists . '' It then said any expert `` could easily find out that these pictures are fake and that they have no relation to prisoners or detainees in Syrian prisons . '' The report , first released by CNN on Monday , was authored by a team of international legal and forensic experts based on thousands of photographs provided by a Syrian defector . He claimed to have worked as a photographer at a military hospital that received dead bodies from detention centers . The Justice Ministry 's response is the first official Syrian government reaction to the report , which emerged on the eve of an international peace talks in Switzerland . The images purportedly show `` systematic torture and killing '' of detainees by the al-Assad regime . Could photos be a game changer ? That assertion is being made by a team of internationally recognized war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts , who analyzed thousands of digital photos taken and provided by a Syrian defector codenamed `` Caesar , '' who , along with his family , is now living outside Syria in an undisclosed location . Lifeless bodies , signs of starvation . In the photos , lifeless bodies show signs of starvation , brutal beatings , strangulation and other forms of torture and killing , according to the report . The experts ' report was partly sponsored by the government of Qatar , which funded the British law firm Carter-Ruck to write it . Qatar and Saudi Arabia provide most of the outside support for Syria 's rebel forces . The Syrian Justice Ministry accused Carter-Ruck of a lack of professionalism and said it was `` known to have direct ties with countries that are hostile to the Syrian Arab Republic since the start of the crisis . '' Aside from the photos of `` foreign terrorists , '' other individuals shown are `` civilians and military personnel who were killed as a result of torture by armed terrorist groups because they were accused of being pro-state , '' it claims . The ministry questions the credibility of the photographer , saying he was `` a fugitive who fled Syria and who was already facing legal action , '' and asks how he would have got the necessary documents to leave the country . It also suggests that the timing of the publication of the photographs reveals their `` true purpose '' -- that of undermining the peace talks starting in Montreux Wednesday and moving to Geneva at the end of the week . The report `` aims to undermine the efforts to bring peace in Syria and put an end to the international sponsored terrorism in the country , '' the statement said .
Syrian Justice Ministry says photos are ` ` fake '' and have no relevance to the detainees . It also says pictures show ` ` foreign terrorists '' and regime officials killed by them . The photos of alleged systematic torture and killing in Syria come as peace talks are to begin . The authors say they show ` ` systematic torture and killing '' of people by al - Qaeda regime .