Syria rejects Amnesty International's report of mass hangings as untrue

Syria's justice ministry is rejecting an Amnesty International report of mass hangings of as many as 13,000 people in a prison near Damascus, calling the allegations "totally untrue" and part of a smear campaign.

• Thousands killed in mass hangings in Syrian prison since 2011: Amnesty International
• 'They treated us like animals': Nearly 18,000 have died in Syrian prisons since 2011, report finds

The ministry's statement was published by Syria's state-run news agency on Wednesday, a day after Amnesty released its report.

It says "misleading and inciting" media outlets carried the Amnesty report with the intention to smear the Syrian government's reputation on the world stage particularly after recent "military victories against terrorists groups."

The government refers to all armed opposition as "terrorists."

It also says the allegations are "baseless" because executions in Syria follow due process and various stages of litigations.

Amnesty's report says the mostly civilian victims were hanged after military trials that lasted minutes.