The only Way to Defeat ISIS is to Ally with the whole Syrian People
SNHR has released the report: “The only Way to Defeat ISIS is to Ally with the whole Syrian People” in which it documented the most notable attacks carried out by the international coalition forces that resulted in civilian casualties or targeted vital civil facilities.
The report notes that international coalition forces entered Syria on 23 September 2014 to fight ISIS and operated without publicly siding with any of the conflict parties until the end of 2015 when they started to support and side with the Kurdish-majority Self-management forces, which consist primarily of the Democratic Union Party forces, a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, under the pretext of fighting ISIS. These forces, however, fought and took over areas that were formerly under the control of the Syrian opposition factions which was the case in Tal Ref’at and the surrounding areas.
Additionally, the report stresses that supporting a group within any given society will establish for and lead to a long-term social quarrel and make the other components of this society see this group as a traitor foe as well as anyone supporting this group. What makes this worse, in the Syrian case, is the enforced-displacement crimes which the Democratic Union Party are committing on an ethnic basis. To a great extent, this is similar to the Iranian Support for Hezbollah and might even much worse considering that Hezbollah never declared any separatist intention.
Fadel Abdul Ghani, chairman of SNHR, adds:
“The international coalition will not be able to defeat ISIS even if they lost all of their lands as long as there are existents producers which are, primarily, the oppressive regimes that dedicate the state’s resources to demean their people and stand behind sectarian and bloodthirsty slogans. Even a military success won’t be possible unless social segments (and not sectarian or ethnic) were involved in the fight against ISIS.”
This report highlights 46 incidents in which international coalition forces targeted vital objects and facilities. There were 28 incidents, out of the 46, that resulted in civilian casualties between Thursday 4 February 2016 and Wednesday 12 October 2016. The most notable incident was in Al Toukhar village, affiliated to Manbej city, where 98 civilians have fallen including 59 children and 27 women.
The report draws upon cumulative, ongoing, and daily monitoring processes by SNHR team where we followed-up on the incidents and spoke to survivors, victims’ families, and eyewitnesses. Furthermore, we have reviewed and verified the pictures and videos.
The report notes that aerial bombardment has caused collateral damages that involved loss of lives, injuries, and significant damages to civil facilities. There are strong indicators suggesting that the damage was too excessive compared to the anticipated military benefit.
The calls on the international coalition forces to respect the international humanitarian law and the customary international law and bear the consequences of the violations that have occurred since the beginning of the strikes.
The report asserts that states of coalition have to explicitly and clearly confess that some of the airstrikes have resulted in innocent civilian casualties. Denying so won’t benefit these government as there are documented human rights reports and residents’ account that fully expose that. Instead, these states should launch serious investigations and compensate the victims and the affected as soon as possible.
Lastly, the report calls for the protection of civilians in Syria from the brutality and savagery of the Syrian regime and the extremist militias that are fighting by the regime’s side. A no-fly zone must be enforced on the warplanes that are dropping tens of barrel bombs every day in parallel with protecting the civilians in Syria from the brutality of ISIS.