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Human Rights

Battle for Aleppo defined by war crimes

By Waleed Abu al-Khair in Cairo

Civilians evacuate Aleppo. The UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria said on March 1st that all the parties to the war in Syria committed war crimes and that the agreement to evacuate civilians after the defeat of the opposition constituted a 'war crime of forced displacement'. [Photo courtesy of Faisal al-Ahmad]

Civilians evacuate Aleppo. The UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria said on March 1st that all the parties to the war in Syria committed war crimes and that the agreement to evacuate civilians after the defeat of the opposition constituted a 'war crime of forced displacement'. [Photo courtesy of Faisal al-Ahmad]

A recent report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria documents the numerous and varied violations against civilians during the battle for Aleppo and condemns all parties to the conflict.

Commission investigators documented chemical attacks and civilian executions carried out during the regime forces' five-month siege of eastern Aleppo, which was a prominent opposition stronghold.

There is conclusive evidence that Syrian warplanes "deployed toxic chemicals, including chlorine gas", the March 1st report said, describing Aleppo as a scene of "unrelenting violence".

Moreover, the report condemned the agreement to evacuate civilians from Aleppo after the defeat of the opposition, saying it constituted a "war crime of forced displacement".

Civilians in the opposition-controlled eastern section and regime-controlled western section are "victims of war crimes committed by both sides", the report said.

Various opposition groups including al-Nusra Front (ANF), now known as the Fatah al-Sham Front, indiscriminately shelled civilians in western Aleppo without having clear military targets, the report said.

Rampant, indiscriminate killing

"The war in Aleppo, especially in the last months, was insane in every sense of the word," Aleppo-based media activist Faisal al-Ahmad told Diyaruna.

The Syrian army and its allies did not spare an inch from their intensive shelling and sniper bullets, he said. At the same time, ANF elements and other groups that had pledged allegiance to it also shelled every area they could reach, regardless of whether it was civilian or military.

"Toward the end, all areas were vulnerable to being shelled and civilians and fighters alike were at risk of dying at any moment," he said.

Al-Ahmed said that he and a group of other media activists and relief workers tried to discuss this subject with battlefront commanders, but "the response was harsh every time and we were accused of being agents for the regime".

"[We] were threatened with being killed if we tried again to ask that civilians not be targeted," al-Ahmad said.

"For as long as I live I will not forget the prevailing atmosphere," he said. "Simply put, everyone had turned into a monster."

Mass displacement

"The displacement of north Aleppo residents was near total," Ocalan Sheikhi, a relief worker at the Turkish-Syrian border, told Diyaruna.

The people of that region scattered to wherever they could go, including al-Jazira, Afrin and Idlib province, he said.

A considerable number of others went to the border with Turkey in the hope of being able to cross to the other side, and from there to Europe, Sheikhi said.

"The prospects of returning for those displaced from Aleppo are impossible [at this time] for several reasons," he said.

"First, most families lost all their property," he said. "Their homes and shops were completely destroyed and obliterated in some areas."

For those whose houses sustained minor or no damage, the regime's army and militias, including Hizbullah and the Iran-backed Zainabiyoun and Fatemiyoun Brigades, looted absolutely everything, he said.

"The most important reason why the displaced do not consider returning is the fact that they do not trust the regime," he said. "They all fear retaliation if they return."

"The regime is seemingly implementing a deliberate plan to create an atmosphere of fear by issuing threats from time to time to compel residents to sell [their homes] and thus empty the area of absolutely all its inhabitants and replace them with groups affiliated with it," he said.

War crimes

"International law states that forced displacement by governments or armed groups constitutes a crime against humanity and a war crime if it is proven to have occurred systematically and intentionally," said Cairo University criminal law professor and Regional Centre for Strategic Studies researcher Wael al-Sharimi.

In the case of Aleppo, this is confirmed by the facts on the ground, he said.

"Starting with the war that has been ongoing for months, and including the siege imposed on civilians and fighters alike, and making truces and ceasefires conditional on the mandatory withdrawal of everyone from a certain area [...] are all violations of Article 7 (1) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court," he told Diyaruna.

Al-Sharimi said international law expressly states that "the forcible deportation or transfer of residents, when committed in the context of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, constitutes a crime against humanity" and that "unlawful deportation or transfer [of a population] is also a war crime".

Chlorine gas

Nurreddine al-Jammal, a former volunteer at a field hospital in Aleppo who moved to Afrin when the ceasefire went into effect, said he witnessed the use of banned weapons, including chlorine gas, by the regime's forces and militias fighting alongside it.

"Various parts of Aleppo were bombarded with this chemical via military helicopters dropping explosive barrels," he told Diyaruna.

"In one particular airstrike on September 6, 2016, more than 100 civilians suffered poisoning symptoms caused by exposure to this substance," he said.

Al-Jammal said doctors and medics who remained in Aleppo until the last days of the siege reported that use of chlorine was widespread, noting that it was used by both regime forces and militants in Aleppo.

Justice for Syrians

The UN commission's report "was just primarily to the Syrian people because they are the ultimate victims of the ongoing war", said Syrian attorney Bassam Bashir, who currently resides in Cairo.

Condemning the war crimes and crimes against humanity taking place is a step towards "holding accountable those who committed these acts", including the Syrian regime and the armed groups, he told Diyaruna.

Al-Bassam said justice is required to quell the desire for retaliation that could be present on both sides "on account of the inhumane practices that occurred during the war".

"Despite reconciliation and truces, these crimes have serious consequences that will be hard to forget or erase from memory," he said.

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