120 Incidents of Attack in December 2016
SNHR has published its special periodic report on attacks against vital civil facilities by the conflict parties in Syria.
The report documents no less than 1373 incidents of attack on vital civil facilities in 2016. The attacks were distributed by the perpetrator party as follows: 761 incidents by Syrian regime forces, 437 incidents by Russian forces, 31 incidents by ISIS, one incident by Fateh Al Sham Front, 55 incidents by armed opposition factions, three incidents by the Kurdish Self-management forces, 43 incidents by international coalition forces, and 42 incidents by other parties.
The report breaks down the vital facilities that were attacked in 2016 as follows: 421 infrastructures, 271 vital educational facilities, 224 places of worship, 227 vital medical facilities, 109 communal facilities, 17 vital cultural facilities, 23 international humanitarian insignia, and 31 refugee camps.
The report documents the incidents of attack on vital civil facilities in December where no less than 120 attacks against vital civil facilities were recorded as follows: 81 incidents by Syrian regime forces, 28 by Russian forces, two by armed opposition factions, five by international coalition forces, and four by other parties.
The report breaks down the facilities that have been targeted in December as follows: 36 Infrastructures, 36 vital educational facilities, 17 places of worship, 14 vital medical facilities, 10 communal facilities, one vital cultural facilities, and six international humanitarian insignia.
Furthermore, the report notes that the documented attacks were only the minimum of the actual magnitude of crimes in light of the many practical difficulties during the documentation process.
The report affirms that investigations conducted by SNHR show that there were no military centers before or during these attacks. Syrian regime forces and the other perpetrators of these crimes must justify their actions before the United Nations and the Security Council.
According to the report, the international humanitarian law considers indiscriminate, deliberate, or disproportionate attacks as unlawful attacks. Syrian regime forces’ attacks against schools, hospitals, churches, and bakeries are an utter disregard for the most basic standards of the international humanitarian law and the Security Council Resolution.
The report also notes that Russian forces, armed opposition factions, international coalition forces, ISIS, Fateh Al Sham Front, Kurdish Self-management forces, and other parties have attacked some of these facilities. The indiscriminate random bombardment is a violation of the international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime.
The report calls on the Security Council to bind all parties, especially Syrian regime forces considering that it is the main perpetrator of most of these violations, to implement Resolution 2139 and, at least, condemn the targeting of vital civil centers that are indispensable for the lives of civilians.
Finally, the report calls on the states that support the armed opposition to end their support for the factions that didn’t respect the international humanitarian law.