AMNESTY REPORT ACC– — USE RUSSIA OF WAR CRIMES FOR KILLING CIVILIANS IN RUSSIA
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BY BEN KERRIGAN
An Amnesty International report has confirmed that at least 200 civilians were killed by air strikes in Syria between the 30th of September and the 29th of November due to Russia using cluster bombs in civilian areas. The report accuses the act as constituting a war crime on the part of Russia, who in turn have said their air strikes in Syria since September have been on the basis of a request by the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad to target ISIS and other terrorist groups.
Amnesty stated they were also researching allegations of several civilian deaths related to the US- led coalition air strikes in Syria since the air bombardment which started over a year ago. The U.S and U.K media barely report on civilian deaths, probably to avoid inflaming relations between the West and the Muslim world. This could either be because horrendous facts such as those highlighting civilian deaths are hidden form the mainstream media, or it could be because the media themselves decide it is inexpedient to promulgate such news that could impact negatively on the mission of the coalition in Syria. However, objective journalism requires that the truth be always told.
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The Amnesty report, seen by eye of media, said it had “researched remotely” more than 25 Russian attacks that took place in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Aleppo between 30 September and 29 November and had interviewed by phone or over the internet witnesses to the attacks, and had audio and video evidence, as well as “advice from weapons experts”. Amnesty said. There was evidence that Russia’s military “unlawfully used unguided bombs in densely populated areas and inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions”, according to the disturbing report.
”International humanitarian law – the law that governs the conduct of armed conflict – could not be clearer, a guideline in their report categorically states. Attacks must never be directed against civilians. The principle of distinguishing between civilians and combatants is a fundamental safeguard for people caught up in the horrors of war”.
Further, eye of media has learnt from some Muslim families that they are aware of friends whose relatives have been killed as civilians caught up the bombardment mission in Syria. ”Weddings have been bombed, and people killed in those weddings, one disaffected sounding Muslim said. The media don’t tell you those things because they don’t want you to know. Acts of the coalition in Syria that kill civilians provoke terrorism he said. When we asked for contact with the friend in question who had lost family members, so that we could seek to verify it, the unnamed man said ” his friend would not want to talk to us. We urged him to make the call so it could be confirmed, and he said he would get back to us.
The allegation is both serious and disturbing, because we would expect the coalition, including Russia, to proceed with extreme care when targeting alleged terrorists. It is simply not good enough to hear that several innocent civilians are being killed who may actually be against the terrorist networks being bred there.
FINDINGS
Amnesty outlined the findings into six attacks – each of which it said was responsible for dozens of civilian casualties, but had no obvious military target nearby.
One suspected Russian warplane on the 29th of November, for example, fired three missiles into a busy public market in Ariha, in Idlib province. A total of 49 civilians were either killed or missing and feared dead, according to one local source.
“It was a normal Sunday; there was nothing unusual. People were buying goods; children were eating,” the activist, Mohammed Qurabi al-Ghazal, told Amnesty.
“First there was a loud explosion – dirt flying in the air – followed immediately by shock. In just a few moments, people were screaming, the smell of burning was in the air and there was just chaos.”
He said the armed group Jaysh al-Fateh controlled the area, but did not have any presence inside Ariha itself.
“Some Russian air strikes appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians,” Amnesty’s Philip Luther said. “Such attacks may amount to war crimes,” he added.
Time will tell how these worrying allegations end . Perhaps we will see more of these allegations come to the fore, and see exactly how they are resolved, or who is brought into account.
