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State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the initiative sought to collect evidence on the "horrible" allegations leveled against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, including the killing of children.
The project will not spare opposition fighters accused of wrongdoing but is aimed primarily at "regime elements who are continuing not only to obey the Assad orders to fire on their own people, but are also committing gross abuses themselves," Nuland told reporters.
"We're trying to send a political message here (to) those who are still carrying out his bloody orders -- there are people bearing witness to that and they will be held to account," Nuland said.
The Syria Accountability Clearinghouse will secure storage of evidence of abuses and offer training to investigators, lawyers and human rights groups who are looking into alleged violations, a State Department statement said.
The Clearinghouse will also include a "prosecutors' unit" to work on future cases that could be brought before Syrian or international courts, or potential hybrid tribunals.
The State Department said it would work with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other countries. Britain last week announced another £500,000 ($800,000) for the Syrian opposition, in part to help activists record abuses.
The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have died since President Bashar al-Assad launched a crackdown on protests in March 2011.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights on Monday put the toll at 10,108 and said that 7,306 of the victims have been civilians.
Clinton on Sunday joined officials of Western and Arab nations at a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul that called for Assad to be given a deadline to meet the terms of a peace plan negotiated by former UN chief Kofi Annan.
Russia, which holds veto power at the UN Security Council, has been the main supporter of Assad and rejected calls in Istanbul for a deadline. UN-backed courts have sought to bring accountability after a number of other conflicts.
Since last year, uprisings have toppled authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. Courts in some of the countries have since taken aim at alleged violations during the former strongmen's rule.
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The project will not spare opposition fighters accused of wrongdoing but is aimed primarily at "regime elements who are continuing not only to obey the Assad orders to fire on their own people, but are also committing gross abuses themselves," Nuland told reporters.
"We're trying to send a political message here (to) those who are still carrying out his bloody orders -- there are people bearing witness to that and they will be held to account," Nuland said.
The Syria Accountability Clearinghouse will secure storage of evidence of abuses and offer training to investigators, lawyers and human rights groups who are looking into alleged violations, a State Department statement said.
The Clearinghouse will also include a "prosecutors' unit" to work on future cases that could be brought before Syrian or international courts, or potential hybrid tribunals.
The State Department said it would work with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other countries. Britain last week announced another £500,000 ($800,000) for the Syrian opposition, in part to help activists record abuses.
The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have died since President Bashar al-Assad launched a crackdown on protests in March 2011.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights on Monday put the toll at 10,108 and said that 7,306 of the victims have been civilians.
Clinton on Sunday joined officials of Western and Arab nations at a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul that called for Assad to be given a deadline to meet the terms of a peace plan negotiated by former UN chief Kofi Annan.
Russia, which holds veto power at the UN Security Council, has been the main supporter of Assad and rejected calls in Istanbul for a deadline. UN-backed courts have sought to bring accountability after a number of other conflicts.
Since last year, uprisings have toppled authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. Courts in some of the countries have since taken aim at alleged violations during the former strongmen's rule.
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