Actions by Russia and Turkey in Syria could amount to war crimes
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The United Nations said the actions of Russia and Turkey in Syria could amount to war crimes by both Moscow and Ankara. Russia backs the Syrian government’s forces, while Turkey supports the rebels that the government fights.
A report by a UN commission, covering the period from July 2019 to February 2020, found that Russia killed dozens of civilians with air raids on a popular market and a camp for displaced people. “In both incidents, the Russian air force did not direct the attacks at a specific military objective, amounting to the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas”, the report said.
UN investigators, led by Paulo Pinheiro, called for ensuring accountability for a “multitude of violations”.They also denounced “deliberate” attacks by the Syrian government and allied forces on protected civilian sites, including hospitals and schools.
“There is a war crime of intentionally terrorising a population to force it to move. We are seeing that picture emerging very clearly for example, in Idlib where, because these places are being bombed, people are having to move out”, a panel member said.
“The Commission finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian National Army fighters perpetrated the war crime of murder”, the report said, warning that “if any armed group members were shown to be acting under the effective command and control of Turkish forces, these violations may entail criminal responsibility for such commanders who knew or should have known about the crimes”.
The report also called on Turkey to investigate whether it was responsible for an air raid on a civilian convoy near Ras al-Ain that killed 11 people last October. The UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the attack was conducted by Turkish aircraft. Turkey has denied the allegations.
