{"id":951,"date":"2012-10-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-13T00:00:00","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=951","title":{"rendered":"New Evidence Military Dropped Cluster Bombs, Halt All Use of Internationally Banned Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Syria&rsquo;s disregard for its civilian population is all too  evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these  deadly cluster bombs into populated areas. <\/p>\n<p>Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. <\/p>\n<p>(New York) \u2013 New evidence has emerged that the Syrian air  force has used <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/category\/topic\/arms\/cluster-munitions\">cluster  munitions<\/a> in recent days, Human Rights Watch said today. Many of the  strikes were near the main highway that runs through Ma`arat al-Nu`man, the  site of a major confrontation between government and rebel forces this week.<\/p>\n<p>Videos posted online by Syrian activists on October 9-12  showed cluster munition remnants reportedly in or near the towns of Tamane`a,  Taftanaz, al-Tah, and Ma`arat al-Nu`man, in the Northern governorate of Idlib,  Eastern Bouwayda and al-Salloumiyyeh in Homs governorate, Tel Rifaat in Aleppo  governorate, the countryside in Lattakia governorate, and Eastern Ghouta, near  Damascus. The cluster bomb canisters and submunitions shown in the videos all  show damage and wear patterns produced by being mounted on and dropped from an  aircraft. Residents from Taftanaz and Tamane`a confirmed in interviews with  Human Rights Watch that helicopters dropped cluster munitions on or near their  towns on October 9. Human Rights Watch does not yet have any information on  casualties caused by the recent cluster munition strikes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tUj0ocH87EU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\n  &ldquo;Syria&rsquo;s disregard for its civilian population is all too  evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these  deadly cluster bombs into populated areas,&rdquo; said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/bios\/stephen-goose\">Steve Goose<\/a>, arms director at  Human Rights Watch. &ldquo;Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most  nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate  weapons that continue to kill and maim for years.&rdquo;<br \/>\n  Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned by the risks posed by  the unexploded submunitions to the civilian population, as men and even  children can be seen in the videos handling the unexploded submunitions in  life-threatening ways.<br \/>\n  At least 18 videos have been posted on YouTube by Syrian  activists showing the aftermath of the cluster munition strikes in recent days.  They are the latest in a continuous stream of videos showing ongoing fighting,  and the Human Rights Watch interviews with residents of two of the affected  towns corroborate the use of cluster munitions. Eliot Higgins, who blogs on  military hardware and tactics used in Syria under the pseudonym &ldquo;Brown Moses,&rdquo;  compiled a list of the <a href=\"http:\/\/brown-moses.blogspot.com\/2012\/08\/new-evidence-of-cluster-bombs-used-in.html\">videos<\/a> showing cluster munition remnants in Syria&rsquo;s various governorates. Human Rights  Watch reached residents in Taftanaz and Tamane`a who confirmed the strikes on  their town, but has not been able to reach residents&nbsp;in the other towns  featured in the online videos.<br \/>\n  Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the remnants shown in  the videos are RBK-250 series cluster bomb canisters and AO-1SCh fragmentation  bomblets. Jane&rsquo;s Information Group, a publishing company specializing in  military topics, lists Syria as possessing RBK-250\/275 and RBK-500 cluster  bombs. These cluster bombs and explosive submunitions are Soviet-made, but  there is no information available on how or when Syria acquired them.<br \/>\n  In July, Human Rights Watch identified an RBK-250 series  cluster bomb canister and AO-1SCh bomblets, apparently found in Jabal  Shahshabu, Hama province, from a video. Video footage posted in August from  Talbiseh in Homs governorate and from Abu Kamal in Deir al-Zor governorate also  show cluster munition remnants. The August cluster munition strike on Abu Kamal  appears to have involved a different type of submunition, the PTAB 2.5M, which  is an anti-tank bomblet.<br \/>\n  A resident of Taftanaz told Human Rights Watch that Syrian  forces had been attacking the town for the past six weeks and that on October 9  a helicopter &ldquo;dropped a [bomb] and as it fell it broke into half and released  smaller [bomblets]. I heard one [initial] explosion. But after the submunitions  were released I heard several [further] explosions.&rdquo; The strike hit a field of  olive trees south of Taftanaz, two to three kilometers from the airport. There  were apparently no casualties. The resident said he saw around 30 unexploded  bomblets when he went to the site.<\/p>\n<p>  Another resident of Taftanaz interviewed separately described another cluster  strike north of the town. He told Human Rights Watch:<br \/>\n  On October 9, I heard a big explosion followed by several  smaller ones coming from Shelakh field located at the northof Taftanaz. We went  to see what happened. We saw a big [bomb] cut in half and several [bomblets]  that were not detonated. I personally found one that was not exploded. There  were small holes in the ground. The holes were dispersed and spread around over  300 meters.<br \/>\n  According to the resident, soldiers from the rebel Free  Syria Army informed him that 20 unexploded bomblets were found in Taftanaz.<br \/>\n  A resident of Tamane`a told Human Rights Watch that around  noon on October 9, a low-flying helicopter &ldquo;released a [bomb] that split in  half and released smaller [bomblets]&rdquo; and &ldquo;the [bomb] split open between two  schools, Intermediate and Elementary, very close to each other. The schools are  called Zeid Abi Elharissa and Mostapha el Bakri respectively \u2026 in Ibn Batouta  neighborhood.&rdquo; The resident said that, &ldquo;The [bomblets] that exploded were the  ones that hit the ground on the tip; we collected the ones that didn&rsquo;t explode,  their tip didn&rsquo;t touch the ground.&rdquo;<br \/>\n  A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wavNXrL4CQE&amp;feature=youtu.be\">video<\/a> posted online on October 10 clearly shows remnants of an RBK-250 cluster bomb  and AO-1SCh bombletsat al-Tah, another location near Tamane&rsquo;a.<br \/>\n  These unexploded submunitions are armed and can explode at  the slightest touch or movement, yet civilians can be seen in some of the  videos carrying the submunitions around, banging them on objects, and throwing  them on the ground. A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=jZWjGaxrkCE\">video<\/a> filmed at Tamane`a shows several men handling unexploded AO-1SCh bomblets, an  act that is extremely hazardous. A Tamane`a resident told Human Rights Watch  that people have been taking the bomblets and remnants as &ldquo;souvenirs.&rdquo; In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=hy7205gr3bM#%21\">separate  video<\/a> from August, a young child is filmed holding an unexploded  submunition.<br \/>\n  &ldquo;The cluster munition strikes and unexploded ordnance they  leave behind pose a huge danger to civilian populations, who often seem unaware  how easily these submunitions could still explode.&rdquo; Goose said. &ldquo;There is an  urgent need for the government to facilitate risk education and emergency  clearance efforts.&rdquo;<br \/>\n  Human Rights Watch also called on television stations widely  watched inside Syria, such as al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya, to run announcements  alerting the population to the risks of handling these munitions.<br \/>\n  Cluster munitions can be fired by rockets, mortars, and  artillery or dropped by aircraft, including helicopters. They explode in the  air, sending dozens, even hundreds, of submunitions or &ldquo;bomblets&rdquo; over an area  the size of a football field. These bomblets often fail to explode on initial  impact, leaving duds that act like landmines and explode when handled.<br \/>\n  A majority of the world&rsquo;s nations have comprehensively  banned the use of cluster munitions through the Convention on Cluster  Munitions, which became binding international law on August 1, 2010. Syria is  not a party to the convention and did not participate in the 2007-2008 Oslo  Process that led to the creation of the treaty, which bans cluster munitions  and requires clearance of contaminated areas and assistance to victims. A total  of 77 countries are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions while another  34 have signed but not yet ratified.<br \/>\n  Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the international  Cluster Munition Coalition, the civil society campaign behind the Convention on  Cluster Munitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syria&rsquo;s disregard for its civilian population is all too  evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these  deadly cluster bombs into populated areas. <\/p>\n<p>Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. <\/p>\n<p>(New York) \u2013 New evidence has emerged that the Syrian air  force has used <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/category\/topic\/arms\/cluster-munitions\">cluster  munitions<\/a> in recent days, Human Rights Watch said today. Many of the  strikes were near the main highway that runs through Ma`arat al-Nu`man, the  site of a major confrontation between government and rebel forces this week.<\/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-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","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=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}