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Advocacy Group Accuses Syrian Government of Unlawful Airstrikes Advocacy Group Accuses Syrian Government of War Crimes
(about 2 hours later)
PARIS — A human rights advocacy group accused the Syrian authorities on Thursday of ordering “indiscriminate and in some cases deliberate airstrikes against civilians,” offering the newest testimony in more than two years of uprising and war that President Bashar al-Assad is confronting the campaign to unseat him with increasingly harsh tactics. PARIS — A human rights advocacy group accused the Syrian authorities of war crimes on Thursday for ordering indiscriminate and in some cases deliberate airstrikes against civilians, the latest testimony that President Bashar al-Assad is using increasingly harsh tactics against the opposition.
The targets included civilians standing in line for bread at bakeries and hospitals where the airstrikes “strongly suggest that the government also deliberately targeted these facilities,” Human Rights Watch said. The targets included hospitals and bakeries where civilians were standing in line for bread, Human Rights Watch said.
But it also castigated the rebellious Free Syrian Army and other armed adversaries of the Assad government, saying insurgents “did not take all feasible measures to avoid deploying forces and structures such as headquarters in or near densely populated areas.” But it also castigated the Free Syrian Army, the rebel umbrella group supported by the United States and its allies, and other armed adversaries of the Assad government, saying insurgents did not take sufficient care to avoid deploying forces and setting up headquarters in or near densely populated areas.
“However, an attacking party is not relieved from the obligation to take into account the risk to civilians from an attack on the grounds that the defending party has located military targets within or near populated areas,” Human Rights Watch said. “An attacking party is not relieved from the obligation to take into account the risk to civilians from an attack on the grounds that the defending party has located military targets within or near populated areas,” Human Rights Watch said.
The group, which is based in New York, said that the airstrikes, which have frequently been reported by opposition activists clamoring for supplies of antiaircraft weapons, constituted “serious violations of international humanitarian law.” The group, which is based in New York, said the airstrikes, which have frequently been reported by opposition activists clamoring for supplies of antiaircraft weapons, constituted “serious violations” of international humanitarian law.
“People who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes,” the 80-page report said. “People who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes,” said the 80-page report, titled “Death From the Skies.”
Syrian state media Web sites did not report any government response to the accusations.
The opposition groups said airstrikes had killed 4,300 civilians since July 2012, Human Rights Watch said.The opposition groups said airstrikes had killed 4,300 civilians since July 2012, Human Rights Watch said.
The advocacy group said that visits to 50 sites of such attacks by its researchers in the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Latakia and 140 interviews with witnesses had documented 152 civilian deaths. The group acknowledged that it had been able to visit only opposition-controlled areas since the authorities denied it access to government-held locations. Human Rights Watch said its researchers visited the sites of 50 such attacks in the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Latakia, and interviewed 140 witnesses, eventually documenting 152 civilian deaths. The group acknowledged that it had been able to visit only opposition-controlled areas, since the Syrian government denied it access to government-held locations.
“In village after village, we found a civilian population terrified by their country’s own air force,” said Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch researcher who carried out some of the interviews. “These illegal airstrikes killed and injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear and displacement.” “In village after village, we found a civilian population terrified by their country’s own air force,” said Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch researcher who conducted some of the interviews. “These illegal airstrikes killed and injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear and displacement.”
A statement accompanying the report said government had repeatedly and “deliberately targeted four bakeries where civilians were waiting in bread lines a total of eight times, and hit other bakeries with artillery attacks.” A statement accompanying the report said the government had deliberately targeted four bakeries where civilians were waiting for bread eight times, and had struck other bakeries with artillery attacks.
“Repeated aerial attacks on two hospitals in the areas Human Rights Watch visited strongly suggest that the government also deliberately targeted these facilities,” the statement said. “At the time of Human Rights Watch’s visits to the two hospitals they had been attacked a total of seven times.” “Repeated aerial attacks on two hospitals in the areas Human Rights Watch visited strongly suggest that the government also deliberately targeted these facilities,” the statement said. “At the time of Human Rights Watch’s visits to the two hospitals, they had been attacked a total of seven times.”
In 44 additional cases, the report said, the weapons deployed by government forces were “unlawful under the laws of war” since they included “means and methods of warfare, such as unguided bombs dropped by high-flying helicopters that under the circumstances could not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and thus were indiscriminate.” In 44 additional cases, the report said, the weapons deployed by government forces were “unlawful under the laws of war,” including “unguided bombs dropped by high-flying helicopters that under the circumstances could not distinguish between civilians and combatants.”
The document accused the authorities of using unlawful cluster munitions and incendiary devices that “should, at a minimum, be banned in populated areas.”The document accused the authorities of using unlawful cluster munitions and incendiary devices that “should, at a minimum, be banned in populated areas.”
Human Rights Watch also said that, in attacks it documented, “damage to opposition headquarters and other possible military structures was minimal” and that it could find “no casualties among opposition fighters,” while a town north of Aleppo was attacked Nov. 7, “destroying three houses and killing seven civilians, including five children.” Human Rights Watch also said that in the attacks it documented, damage to opposition headquarters was minimal and that it could find no casualties among opposition fighters, while a town north of Aleppo was attacked Nov. 7, destroying three houses and killing seven civilians, including five children.
“Human Rights Watch identified a possible military target in the vicinity, a building about 50 meters away that was used by opposition fighters at the time,” it said. “This building was only lightly damaged in a subsequent attack, however. The report said: “A neighbor who rushed to the site after the attack told a Human Rights Watch researcher who visited the area: ‘It was tragic. The buildings had turned into a heap of rubble. We started pulling people out using just our hands and shovels. A cupboard and a wall had fallen on the children. They were still alive when we found them, but they died before we could take them to their uncle’s house. There is no clinic or medical center here.’ ”
“A neighbor who rushed to the site after the attack told a Human Rights Watch researcher who visited the area: ‘It was tragic. The buildings had turned into a heap of rubble. We started pulling people out using just our hands and shovels. A cupboard and a wall had fallen on the children. They were still alive when we found them, but they died before we could take them to their uncle’s house. There is no clinic or medical center here.'”