The Grozny Holocaust in Aleppo
SNHR issued its 11th report entitled “The Grozny Holocaust in Aleppo” about the violations that is being committed by Russian forces in Syria.
The report stated that Russian officials, represented by either its ambassador at the UNSC or its minister of Foreign Affairs, that its forces did not commit war crimes in Syria since its military intervention started. They believe that all these accusations are mere media propaganda and falsified and spurious information by enemies which what is being restated by the Syrian regime since March 2011.
The report stated that SNHR had met the Russian mission at the UNSC and they asked them to take the reports that document and discuss the war crimes seriously and to investigate those allegations especially that the aviation force is not owned by either ISIL or the Syrian opposition.
Fadel Abdul Ghani, head of SNHR says:
“We believe that the Russian regime is trying to send a message to the Syrian community in regions under the control of armed opposition by targeting the medical centers. As if saying that there is no safe haven for you. There is no red line to target; the same method that has been used by the Syrian regime.
We categorically reject the presence of Russia in the political process since it is committing the ugliest crimes by shelling medical centers and killing civilians. USA and Europe must consider Russian as an accomplice in crime not a political partner, unless shelling hospitals falls under this category.”
Through their careful examination of the photo and video evidence, the report concluded that the airstrikes have targeted a purely civilian marketplace void of any military or weapons depots neither during nor before the attack.
The report depicts the shelling of 27 medical centers by alleged Russian warplanes, including 2 facilities that were shelled several times since the commencement of the Russian airstrikes on 30 September 2015 and up till 15 February 2016.
The report stated that the total of 17 facilities were targeted in Regions under the control of armed opposition while 10 medical facilities were targeted in regions under the control of ISIL.
According to the report, these airstrikes killed 58 civilians including 3 children and 8 women; 11 victims amongst which were from the medical staffers.
The report asserted that Russian forces violated UN Security Council resolution 2139 through its indiscriminate and deliberate shelling. It also said that the Russian forces should abide by the International Humanitarian Law, and therefore responsible for these violations since the beginning of the attacks, which were mentioned through that report and Russia must bear the consequences of all these violations, and avoid its recurrence.
The report recommended that indiscriminate bombardment is considered a clear violation of the International Humanitarian Law, and these indiscriminate killings amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It also recommended that It is necessary to protect civilians from the brutality of the Syrian regime and extremist militias allied with them. A no-fly zone must be established in parallel with the protecting civilians in Syria from the brutality of ISIL.