No less than 35 Individuals Killed in the Massacre of Ma’aret Al Nu’man City
SNHR has published the report: “Government Forces are still Targeting Popular Markets” which documents the incident of Su-24 government forces warplanes targeting the southern entrance of the vegetables market in Ma’aret Al Nu’man city on Sunday 4 December 2016.
The report relies on a number of accounts by residents, eyewitnesses, and survivors where the report includes two accounts. Also, the report contains a number of pictures and videos that were verified. The pictures show the great destruction that resulted from the bombardment while other pictures showed body parts for the victims who were killed in the bombing.
According to the report, the targeted areas were civil areas where there were no military centers or weapon warehouses for Extremist Islamic groups before or during the attack.
The report reads that on at approximately 14:40, Su-24 fixed-wing government forces warplanes fired a number of missiles targeting the southern entrance of the vegetables market in Ma’aret Al Nu’man city near the Sharia court building in the city. The bombing resulted in the killing of 35 individuals including 11 children. Additionally, about 60 others were wounded and a number of shops were greatly destroyed.
The report asserts that the Syrian regime has, beyond any doubt, violated Security Council Resolutions 2139 and 2254 which both state that indiscriminate attacks must be halted. Also, the regime violated Article 8 of Rome Statute through the act of willful killing which constitutes war crimes.
The report says that the bombardment mentioned in this report has targeted armless civilians. Therefore, government forces have violated the rules of the international human rights law which guarantee the right to life. Additionally, these violations were perpetrated in a non-international armed conflict which amounts to a war crime where all elements were fulfilled.
The report calls on the Security Council to take additional after Resolution 2139 was adopted and no pledges to cease the indiscriminate bombardment operations have been made. All the conflict parties must respect these steps and adhere to the rules of the international humanitarian law.
The report says that the Syrian case must be referred to the International Criminal Court and all those who were involved must be held accountable. Also, the norm of the Responsibility to Protect must be implemented in order to protect the lives, culture, and history of the Syrian people from being destroyed, looted, and ruined. Additionally, sanctions must be expanded to include the Syrian and Iranian regimes who are directly involved in committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Syrian people.
