Compensation and Accountability is a Must
I- Introduction:
On 14 March 2016, the Russian president announced the sudden and partial withdrawal from Syria, which is considered as a positive aspect that would alleviate the Syrian people’s suffering. The Russian forces committed crimes that would amount to war crimes, especially with their widespread use of cluster munitions, according to several reports issued by SNHR since the Russian military intervention started on 30 September 2015.
SNHR’s chairperson, Fadel Abdul Ghani, says:
“The Russian forces, and consequently the Russian government, are responsible for committing war crimes. In SNHR, we believe that it should be held accountable for the crimes they committed, as the withdrawal alone is not enough. Serious investigations by the UN Independent International Investigation Committee, and the Russian government itself, should be conducted. Criminals should be held accountable, including politicians and military personnel. All vital centers, facilities and residential neighborhoods should be renovated.”
This report depicts the time period of the Russian military intervention since 30 September 2015 and up till 15 March 2016. In this report, we will depict incidents that we recorded from previous incidents. We kept a record for all victims and eyewitnesses’ names, their medical records, images and videos.
What is documented below constitutes the bare minimum of what we were able to record, as it also does not tackle the social, economical and psychological dimensions of this crisis.
Russian authorities deny all these accusations and state that all its targets were on military locations that belonged for ISIL or terrorist groups. Additionally, these authorities did not conduct a single investigation to inspect the incidents; neither did it hold any of its forces accountable for their killings, just as the Syrian regime.
