HRW: Syria and Russia targeted civilian infrastructure
Bombings carried out by Syrian and Russian forces against the rebel-held enclave of Idlib amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch declared in a report published on Thursday.
The 167-page report looked at ground strikes in the region between April 2019 and March 2020 and concluded that the strategy to take back the city from anti-government forces contravened the laws of war.
The global rights group said that the “unlawful” strikes had killed 224 civilians, wounding a further 561, and displacing over 1.4 million people. Three million people live in the area, including many who fled from other regions.
A ceasefire was agreed in March between Turkey and Russia who support different sides in the conflict.
The report also named 10 senior Syrian and Russian officials, who may be “command responsible” for the war crimes. The list included Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Civilian infrastructure was the target
The report claims that the strategy carried out by the two military forces was aimed at civilian rather than military targets.
Read more: Idlib diaries: Before and after Syria’s ceasefire
“The Syrian-Russian alliance strikes on Idlib’s hospitals, schools, and markets showed callous disregard for civilian life,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
“The repeated unlawful attacks appear part of a deliberate military strategy to destroy civilian infrastructure and force out the population, making it easier for the Syrian government to retake control,” he added.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Families flee as frontline closes in
Syrian troops have intensified their push for the country’s last major rebel enclave — a “prelude to their total defeat,” according to President Bashar Assad. The violence and mass displacement could result in the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century, said the UN’s humanitarian and emergency relief head, Mark Lowcock. Children in particular have become the face of this suffering.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Largest exodus since World War II
Of the almost 900,000 forced from their homes and shelters in the last three months, 80% have been women and children, a UN spokesperson said. Around 300,000 of those have fled since the start of February alone. The wave of displacement is the largest exodus of civilians since World War II.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Deadly temperatures
With temperatures reaching minus seven Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit) at the snow covered displacement camps in the hills near Turkey’s borders, seven children have died from exposure and bad living conditions. Save the Children said families are burning whatever they can find to stay warm. The chairty warned the death toll could rise.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Belligerents bolster forces
Convoys of Turkish commandos rolled toward the former “de-escalation zone” as Russian-backed Syrian forces intensified their push to retake the area in late January. After 13 Turkish soldiers stationed there to support rebels were killed in early February, diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire stalled.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Highway to nowhere
Assad’s offensive to retake the strategic M5 highway leading through Idlib province to Syria’s second city, Aleppo; has been a long-term objective. After a Russian bombing campaign helped Syrian forces capture all towns along the route on February 11, fierce fighting in western Aleppo forced more than 43,000 toward the Turkish border.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Russian bombing ‘indiscriminate’
The sheer number of Russian and Syrian aerial and artillery attacks on displacement camps, hospitals and schools “suggest they cannot all be accidental,” UN human rights spokesperson Rupert Colville said. His office has recorded 299 civilian deaths this year, 93% caused by the Syrian government and its allies. Michelle Bachelet, the UN’s human rights chief, called the campaign “indiscriminate.”
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Rebels, jihadis strike back
Turkish-supported rebels have been caught out by the onslaught, as have jihadis who are not officially backed by Ankara. One Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, scored a rare victory last week when they downed a particular model of helicopter that Syrian forces are thought to use to drop barrel bombs on civilians.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
Search for safety
The UN’s Bachelet said “no shelter is now safe” and displacement camps have been overwhelmed by the number of those fleeing from the violence. Many have left the camps to take their chances on the road. Bachelet called for humanitarian corridors to be established to allow civilians to escape.
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Syria: Idlib reaches a breaking point
No way out
Turkey has closed its borders to prevent a further influx of Syrians. It already hosts 3.5 million refugees. That leaves the people of Idlib with no escape route. More than 500,000 of those fleeing are children.
HRW interviewed victims and witnesses as well as inspecting satellite images and photographs as part of their investigation. They determined that the strikes damaged 12 healthcare facilities and 10 schools, taking them out of use.
The attacks also damaged at least five markets, four displaced people’s camps, four residential neighborhoods, two commercial areas, and a prison, a church, a stadium, and an NGO office.
The investigation found no evidence of military targets in the vicinity at the time of the strikes, nor did witnesses report any warnings before the attacks began.
No ‘impunity’ for war crimes
Ayman Assad, a resident of Idlib city, told HRW that people “are terrified. I don’t feel safe at my place of work, and at the same time, I am constantly worried about my family, especially my two children who are going to school every day. Schools, markets, homes, hospitals, everything is a target. They are targeting life in Idlib”
Aeriel view of Al-Bara town in Idlib province following air strikes
The report called on the UN Security Council to reauthorize cross-border aid deliveries which had been vetoed by Russia.
“It’s really only by following up and ensuring that these people who have overseen these war crimes, do not get away with impunity, that there are consequences for pursuing this war crime strategy,” Roth said.
ab/rc (Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/hrw-syria-and-russia-targeted-civilian-infrastructure/a-55284242?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf