{"id":522,"date":"2012-05-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=522","title":{"rendered":"War Crimes in Idlib During Peace Negotiations, Executions, Destruction of Property, and Arbitrary Detentions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>May 2, 2012 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"File\/Reports\/05-03-2012War_Crimes_In_Idlib_En.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Please Click here to Read The Full Report<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(New York) \u2013 Syrian government forces killed at least 95  civilians and burned or destroyed hundreds of houses during a two-week  offensive in northern Idlib governorate shortly before the ceasefire, Human  Rights Watch said in a report released today. The attacks happened in late  March and early April, as United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan was  negotiating with the Syrian government to end the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>  <span dir=\"rtl\"> <\/span><br \/>\n  The 38-page report, &ldquo;<a href=\"File\/Reports\/05-03-2012War_Crimes_In_Idlib_En.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">&lsquo;They  Burned My Heart&rsquo;: War Crimes in Northern Idlib during Peace Plan Negotiations<\/a> ,&rdquo; documents dozens of extrajudicial executions, killings of civilians, and  destruction of civilian property that qualify as war crimes, as well as  arbitrary detention and torture. The report is based on a field investigation  conducted by Human Rights Watch in the towns of Taftanaz, Saraqeb, Sarmeen,  Kelly, and Hazano in Idlib governorate in late April.<\/p>\n<p>  <span dir=\"rtl\"> <\/span><br \/>\n  <span dir=\"ltr\"> <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\"> <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\"> <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\"> <\/span>&ldquo;While diplomats argued over details of Annan&rsquo;s peace plan,  Syrian tanks and helicopters attacked one town in Idlib after another,&rdquo; said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/bios\/dr-anna-neistat\">Anna Neistat<\/a> , associate  director for program and emergencies at Human Rights Watch. &ldquo;Everywhere we  went, we saw burnt and destroyed houses, shops, and cars, and heard from people  whose relatives were killed. It was as if the Syrian government forces used  every minute before the ceasefire to cause harm.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DjbdGx9Au94\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Human Rights Watch documented large-scale military  operations that government forces conducted between March 22 and April 6, 2012,  in opposition strongholds in Idlib governorate, causing the death of at least  95 civilians. In each attack, government security forces used numerous tanks  and helicopters, and then moved into the towns and stayed from one to three  days before proceeding to the next town. Graffiti left by the soldiers in all  of the affected towns indicate that the military operation was led by the 76th  Armored Brigade.<\/p>\n<p>  In nine separate incidents documented by Human Rights Watch, government forces  executed 35 civilians in their custody. The majority of executions took place  during the attack on Taftanaz, a town of about 15,000 inhabitants northeast of  Idlib city on April 3 and 4.<\/p>\n<p>  A survivor of the security forces&rsquo; execution of 19 members of the Ghazal family  in Taftanaz described to Human Rights Watch finding the bodies of his  relatives:<br \/>\n  We first found five bodies in a little shop next to the  house. They were almost completely burnt. We could only identify them by a few  pieces of clothes that were left. Then we entered the house and in one of the  rooms found nine bodies on the floor, next to the wall. There was a lot of  blood on the floor. On the wall, there was a row of bullet marks. The nine men  had bullet wounds in their backs, and some in their heads. Their hands were not  tied, but still folded behind.<br \/>\n  Human Rights Watch researchers were able to observe the  bullet marks on the wall that formed a row about 50-60 cm above the floor. Two  of those executed were under 18 years old.<\/p>\n<p>  In several other cases documented by Human Rights Watch, government forces  opened fire and killed or injured civilians trying to flee the attacks. The  circumstances of these cases indicate that government forces failed to  distinguish between civilians and combatants and to take necessary  precautionary measures to protect civilians. Government forces did not provide  any warning to the civilian population about the attacks. For example,  76-year-old Ali Ma&rsquo;assos and his 66-year-old wife, Badrah, were killed by  machine-gun fire shortly after the army launched its attack on Taftanaz in the  morning on April 3 as they tried to flee the town in a pick-up truck with more  than 15 friends and family members.<\/p>\n<p>  Upon entering the towns, government forces and <em>shabeeha<\/em> (pro-government  militias) also burned and destroyed a large number of houses, stores, cars,  tractors, and other property. Local activists have recorded the partial or  complete burning and destruction of hundreds of houses and stores. In Sarmeen,  for example, local activists have recorded the burning of 437 rooms and 16  stores, and the complete destruction of 22 houses. In Taftanaz, activists said  that about 500 houses were partially or completely burned and that 150 houses  had been partially or completely destroyed by tank fire or other explosions.  Human Rights Watch examined many of the burned or destroyed houses in the  affected towns.<\/p>\n<p>  In most cases, the burning and destruction appeared to be deliberate. The  majority of houses that were burned had no external damage, excluding the  possibility that shelling ignited the fire. In addition, many of the ruined  houses were completely destroyed, in contrast to those which appeared to have  been hit by tank shells, where the damage was only partial.<\/p>\n<p>  During the military operations, the security forces also arbitrarily detained  dozens of people, holding them without any legal basis. About two-thirds of the  detainees remain in detention to date, despite promises by President Bashar  al-Assad&rsquo;s government to release political detainees. In most cases, the fate  and whereabouts of the detainees remains unknown, raising fears that they had  been subjected to enforced disappearances. Those who have been released, many  of them elderly or disabled, told Human Rights Watch that during their  detention in various branches of the <em>mukhabarat <\/em>(intelligence agencies)  in Idlib city they had been subjected to torture and ill-treatment.<\/p>\n<p>  Opposition fighters were present in all of the towns prior to the attacks and  in some cases tried to prevent the army from entering the towns. In most cases,  according to local residents, opposition fighters withdrew quickly when they  realized that they were significantly outnumbered and had no means to resist  tanks and artillery. In other towns, opposition fighters left without putting  up any resistance; residents said this was in order to avoid endangering the  civilian population.<\/p>\n<p>  The fighting in Idlib appeared to reach the level of an armed conflict under  international law, given the intensity of the fighting and the level of  organization on both sides, including the armed opposition, who ordered and  conducted retreats. This would mean that international humanitarian law (the  law of armed conflict) would apply in addition to human rights law. Serious violations  of international humanitarian law are classified as war crimes.<\/p>\n<p>  Human Rights Watch has previously documented and condemned serious abuses by  opposition fighters in Syria, including abuses in Taftanaz. These abuses should  be investigated and those responsible brought to justice. These abuses by no  means justify, however, the violations committed by the government forces,  including summary executions of villagers and the large-scale destruction of  villages.<\/p>\n<p>  Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations Security Council to ensure that  the UN supervisory mission deployed to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/middle-eastn-africa\/syria\">Syria<\/a>&nbsp;includes a  properly staffed and equipped human rights section that is able safely and  independently to interview victims of human rights abuses such as those  documented in this report, while protecting them from retaliation. Human Rights  Watch also called on the UN Security Council to ensure accountability for these  crimes by referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court,  and for the ongoing UN Commission of Inquiry to support this.<br \/>\n  &ldquo;The United Nations \u2013 through the Commission of Inquiry and  the Security Council \u2013 should make sure that the crimes committed by Syrian  security forces do not go unpunished,&rdquo; said Neistat. &ldquo;The peace plan efforts  will be seriously undermined if abuses continue behind the observers&rsquo; backs.&rdquo;<br \/>\n  &nbsp;<br \/>\n  <strong>Eyewitness Accounts From &ldquo;&lsquo;They Burned My Heart&rsquo;: War  Crimes in Northern&nbsp;Idlib during Peace Plan Negotiations&rdquo;<\/strong><br \/>\n  The soldiers had handcuffed him behind his back. They didn&rsquo;t  hit him in front of me, but I saw that his eye was bruised. I tried to be quiet  and nice to the soldiers so that they would release him.<\/p>\n<p>  They spent about 15 minutes in the house, asking him about weapons and  searching everywhere. I think they were looking for money. I didn&rsquo;t say  good-bye so as to not make him sad. He didn&rsquo;t say anything either. When they  left, the soldiers said that I should forget him.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013Mother of Mohammad Saleh Shamrukh, chant-leader from  Saraqeb, who was summarily executed by the Syrian security forces on March 25,  2012<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The soldiers placed the four of us facing a wall. They first  asked Awad where his armed sons were. When Awad said that he was an old man and  that he didn&rsquo;t have any armed sons, they just shot him three times from a  Kalashnikov. They then said to Ahmed that apparently 25 years in prison had not  been enough for him. When he didn&rsquo;t say anything, they shot him. They then shot  Iyad without any questions and he fell on my shoulder. I realized that it was  my turn. I said there is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet and then  I don&rsquo;t remember anything else.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013Mohammed Aiman Ezz, 43-year-old man shot three times in  the back of the head and neck by government forces in an attempted execution of  four men in Taftanaz on April 4. He was the only survivor<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I knew in my heart it was my boys [my son and my brother],  that they were killed. I ran out, and about 50 meters from the house there were  nine bodies, next to the wall. There were still snipers on the roofs, and we  had to move very slowly, using flashlights. I pointed my flashlight at the  first body, then the second \u2013 it wasn&rsquo;t Uday or Saed. Then I asked the  neighbors to help, and we found them both. Saed still had his hands tied behind.  People later told me that Uday and Saed were executed there, and the other  seven were FSA fighters brought from other places. Uday had a bullet wound in  the neck and the back of his head; Saed in his chest and neck.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013&ldquo;Heba&rdquo; (not her real name), mother of 15-year-old Uday  Mohammed al-Omar and 21-year-old Saeed Mustafa Barish, both executed by the  Syrian security forces in Saraqeb on March 26, 2012<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The tank was on the main road, just 10 meters away from the  house. Suddenly, they fired four shells, one after the other, into the house. I  was in the house next door, with my mother and six children. We were all thrown  into the air by the blast, and for 15 minutes I couldn&rsquo;t see or hear anything.  Then we went into the room that was hit by the shells. One of the walls had a  huge hole, some 1.5 meters in diameter, and the opposite wall was completely  destroyed. We found Ezzat in the rubble; we could only see his fingers and part  of his shoe. It is a miracle that his wife and child were not hurt. They were  in the same house, but went to the kitchen when the shells hit. We took Ezzat  out, but couldn&rsquo;t save him. His chest was crushed, and blood was coming out of  his mouth and ears.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013&ldquo;Rashida&rdquo; (not her real name), a relative of 50-year-old  Ezzat Ali Sheikh Dib who died when the army shelled his house in Saraqeb on  March 27, 2012<\/em><\/p>\n<p>They put a Kalashnikov [assault rifle] to my head and  threatened to kill us all if my husband did not come home. The children started  crying. Then an officer told a soldier to get petrol and told the children that  he would burn them like he would burn their father because he is a terrorist.  When the soldier came back with some sort of liquid \u2013 it didn&rsquo;t seem to be  petrol \u2013 they poured it out in three of the rooms while we were staying in the living  room. We wanted to get out of the house, but the soldiers prevented us. My  young daughters were crying and begging them to let us go. We were all  terrified. Finally, they allowed us to leave the house, but I became even more  afraid when I saw all the soldiers and tanks in the street.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013&ldquo;Salma&rdquo; (not her real name), whose house in Taftanaz was  burnt by the soldiers on April 4, along with the houses of her five  brothers-in-law<\/em><\/p>\n<p>They put me in the car, handcuffed, and kept there all day,  until seven in the evening. I told them, &lsquo;I am an old man, let me go to the  bathroom,&rsquo; but they just beat me on the face. Then they brought me to State  Security in Idlib, and put me in a 30-square-meter cell with about 100 other  detainees. I had to sleep squatting on the floor. There was just one toilet for  all of us. They took me to an interrogation four times, each time asking why  some of my family members joined the FSA. I didn&rsquo;t deny it, but said there was  nothing I could do to control what my relatives do. They slapped me on the face  a lot.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2013 &ldquo;Abu Ghassan&rdquo; (not his real name), 73-year-old man who  was detained in one of the towns in northern Idlib and held in detention for 18  days&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 2, 2012 <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"File\/Reports\/05-03-2012War_Crimes_In_Idlib_En.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Please Click here to Read The Full Report<\/a><br \/>\n(New York) \u2013 Syrian government forces killed at least 95 civilians and burned or destroyed hundreds of houses during a two-week offensive in northern Idlib governorate shortly before the ceasefire, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The attacks happened in late March and early April, as United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan was negotiating with the Syrian government to end the fighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}