[CNN] Syrian opposition forces may have executed as many as 30 people, most of them government soldiers, in rural Aleppo, according to the United Nations...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
, which cited videos of the killings posted on the Internet in July.
U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called the allegations "deeply shocking" and called Friday for an independent investigation into the incident, which appears to have taken place in Khan al-Assal in northern Syria.
"There needs to be a thorough independent investigation to establish whether war crimes have been committed, and those responsible for such crimes should be brought to justice," Pillay said in a statement.
The videos, posted to the Internet between July 22 and 26, show government soldiers being ordered to lie on the ground, bodies being collected by doctors, corpses strewn along a wall and bodies in Khan al-Assal bearing gunshot wounds to the head.
Pillay's office also has information that Syrian rebels are still holding government officers and soldiers prisoner, the statement said.
Reminding opposition forces that all captured or maimed soldiers must be treated in accordance with international law, Pillay said, "Opposition forces should not think they are immune from prosecution. They must adhere to their responsibilities under international law."