Syria's government has rejected other nations' demands for it to join the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, release political prisoners and allow unrestricted access to aid groups and medical workers. Syria's comments are included in a report adopted Tuesday by the U.N. Human Rights Council as part of its regular checkup on all U.N. member nations. Syria agreed, however, with calls for it to disavow torture, respect freedom of expression and investigate deaths of thousands of peaceful protestors. President Bashar Assad's government has launched a bloody crackdown on the seven-month uprising against his rule.