Amnesty International accuses Russia of Syrian war crimes

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Amnesty International accuses Russia of Syrian war crimes

By Robert Hackwill

Amnesty International is accusing Russia of war crimes for its attacks in Syria. The NGO says airstrikes have cost hundreds of civilian lives and have targeted high density residential areas, markets and medical facilities, where no military targets have been apparent.

Amnesty International based its claim on telephone conversations with survivors and other witnesses.

Between 30 September and the 29 November this year more than 25 attacks claimed only civilian lives. Six of these raids killed at least 200 civilians and around 10 fighters.

“Our report issued today demonstrates how Russia has, we believe, committed war crimes in Syria, by directly attacking civilian areas, residential areas, including medical facilities. It’s used inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions and it’s used unguided bombs in densely populated areas. So, on those counts, we believe that it has most likely committed war crimes,” says Amnesty’s Neil Sammonds.

If verified these attacks could imply a violation of international human rights laws. Especially concerned are victims and families from the Homs, Idlib and Alep provinces.

In one of the worst documented atrocities three missiles were fired at a market in the centre of Ariha, killing 49. In another incident 46 people, mostly children and women, died in the basement of a building in the village of al-Ghanto.

Russia began its air campaign on September 30. It hunts terror groups like ISIL but also mercilessly crushes opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime.

A Kremlin statement said it will examine the Amnesty report, and the foreign ministry said as of yet it had “no corroborated facts” about civilian losses in Syria.

Syria’s opposition Human Rights Observatory counted from the end of September to the 21st December 2,132 people killed in Russian attacks, of which 710 were civilians including 161 children and 104 women.

The war in Syria which began nearly five years ago has now cost more than a quarter of a million lives and displaced millions of people.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-12-24

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Russia rejects human rights report which accuses it of possible war crimes in Syria

Defence officials in Moscow are dismissing an Amnesty International report on Russian strikes in Syria – saying it’s based on unfounded allegations.

The human rights watchdog claims cluster munitions and unguided bombs have been used on civilian areas in recent months – killing hundreds of people – in what may amount to a war crime.

“Once more, nothing concrete or new was published, only the same cliches and fakes that we have already debunked repeatedly,” said General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman.

“The report constantly uses expressions such as ‘supposedly Russian strikes,’ ‘possible violations of international law’ – a lot of assumptions without any evidence.”

The Amnesty report focuses on six attacks in Homs, Idlib and Aleppo provinces. It denounces what it describes as Russia’s “shameful failure” to acknowledge civilian killings.

The Kremlin launched its campaign in September, saying it wanted to help Damascus defeat ISIL and other militants.

It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, saying great care is taken to avoid bombing residential areas.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-12-24

[skonisa]

Any flag photo for innocent 200+ people like France flag? Or nothing coz they are Muslims?

[retarius]

Anybody who denies the likelihood that any given military machine, of any nationality, engaged in combat commits war crimes is a fool. Armies commit atrocities; bombs are indiscriminate and inaccurate; intelligence is patchy and often wrong; false flags are common….it's a war out there folks. The problem I have with the while international law thing is that who gets to enforce it against the powerful? Who is going to discipline Russia or the US? Who disciplines weaker nations under the protection of a US or Russia, for example Israel? Who disciplines the victors in any given war, when the victors write the history, as they say?…think Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

After WWII who paid for the war crimes? Only the losers, and mainly only the lowly grunts out of Japanese soldiery. Did the commanders of the army pay for crimes in China? Not a chance. Read a Japanese version of the story of the Pacific war, it's shocking.

[trogers]

War? Which two countries are at war?

[Searat7]

Russia lies about everything. I don't know how their foreign minister can sleep at night,

[oneday]

Countries like Russia, China and North Korea are the worst examples of humanity. Russia can lie day-in and day-out and no one can do anything about it. It's good that Amnesty International has brought this to the world's attention, but frankly Russia could care less what the world thinks.

[shamrock09]

How do you know? Does that mean all the other countries involved in this debacle are all telling the truth?

War? Which two countries are at war?

[NickJ]

PC wars dont get the job done. In the documentary The Fog of War, Macnamara had quite a few comments on how They would all have been convicted of war crimes after WW2.had Japan won........Today this worldwide threat coming from radical Islam is just one big guerilla war. PC Approachs to ending it are futile.

Edited December 24, 2015 by NickJ

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed. This thread is about accusation of war crimes against Russia in Syria.

[thaibeachlovers]

AI used to support people illegally imprisoned by bad governments, and did a great job. Since when did they become a political organisation? This is likely to lose them support.

[Publicus]

AI used to support people illegally imprisoned by bad governments, and did a great job. Since when did they become a political organisation? This is likely to lose them support.

Russia is on that list too.

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/russia-khodorkovsky-and-lebedev-are-prisoners-conscience

Long time.

[Usernames]

What did anybody expect from these hamfisted brutes?

[Publicus]

Erdogan for one didn't waste any time with the little Chekist in the big Kremlin. Kremlin doors are three times higher than the Big Guy Himself.

Been in AI's Big Three and is one of their leading Usual Suspects for a Long Time.

Putin is beefing up his military presence in Syria because it's a bigger and longer job than he'd thought. Or maybe it's just that it's all going to plan.

If you're Syrian Putin and Assad know where you live. Or where you lived while you and your family were alive.

Some so-called 'collateral damage' is indeed unavoidable. Targeted direct hit bombing is entirely avoidable.