Russia accused of war crimes in Syria

Russia has been directly and repeatedly accused of barbarism and war crimes at the UN security council by US and UK in an unusually blunt session, as hopes of any form of ceasefire were flattened by the scale and ferocity of the Syrian regime’s assault on eastern Aleppo. The war crimes accusations centred on the widespread use of bunker-busting and incendiary bombs on the 275,000 civilians living in the rebel-held Aleppo, weap- ons that Moscow’s accusers say were dropped by Russian aircraft. “Bunker-busting bombs, more suited to destroying military installations, are now destroying homes, decimating bomb shelters, crippling, maiming, killing dozens, if not hundreds,” Matthew Rycroft, the UK ambassador to the UN, said during the emergency security council session on Syria on Sunday.

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Moscow slams unacceptable UN statements

Moscow on Monday slammed the US and UK for blaming Russia of “barbarism” and war crimes in Syria. Moscow was also gravely concerned by the situation in Syria where it said terrorists were using a ceasefire to regroup and wage offensives against government troops. “We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the UK and the US, which can damage and harm our relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He added, “The Kremlin views the situation as extremely complicated, We are chiefly concerned that, terrorists are using a ceasefire to regroup their forces, to replenish their arsenals, for obvious preparations for waging offensives.” “Moscow is not losing the hope and political will to use maximum efforts to reach the point of political settlement in Syria,” Peskov said Monday. “So far it’s been hard.”

Almost impossible peace

Russia’s Ambassador Vitaly Churkin conceded that the surge in violence over the past days meant that “bringing a peace is almost an impossible task now.” Churkin again laid blame for the failed diplomacy with the US, accusing Washington of being unable to convince armed opposition groups that it backs on the ground to distance themselves from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and abide by the ceasefire. A US-Russian ceasefire deal that would have charted a way forward towards peace talks was broken by the “sabotage by the moderate opposition”, he asserted. Damaged aid trucks are pictured after an airstrike on Urm al-Kubra town, western Aleppo city on September 20 REUTERS

Lack of blood, more amputations

A Syrian military source told, regime forces had no intention of letting up on rebel-held areas. “The air force will bomb any terrorist movements, this is an irreversible decision,” the source said, reiterating that the regime’s goal was to “recapture all regions of Syria” outside its control. A medical source in rebel-held Aleppo said hospitals were struggling to deal with a huge number of casualties. “Hospitals that are still in service are under a lot of pressure due to the significant number of wounded in recent days, and the major shortage of blood,” the source told. “Because of this, serious injuries are requiring immediate amputations,” he said. The price of a portion of bread had risen to 500 Syrian pounds from 350 Syrian pounds last week, and food was becoming increasingly difficult to find. Several charity kitchens that had distributed food in eastern districts were no longer operating due to the danger of air strikes. Water supplies also remained cut off to many areas after pumping stations were damaged at the weekend.

Diplomatic efforts

Russia and the US agreed on September 9 a deal to put the peace process back on track. It included a nationwide truce and improved humanitarian aid access but it collapsed when an aid convoy was bombed killing some 20 people. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who hammered out the truce in months of intensive diplomacy, pleaded with Russia to halt air strikes. UN Syria mediator Staffande Mistura appealed to the Council meeting to come up with a way to enforce a ceasefire. However, Russia is one of five veto powers on the council, along with the US, France, UK and China. Russia and China have protected Assad’s government by blocking several attempts at council action. China’s UN envoy Liu Jieyi repeated a call for all sides to work harder to help find a political solution but also said counter-terrorism was a “very important component” to a resolution. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Russia was guilty of prolonging the war in Syria and may have committed war crimes by targeting an aid convoy. The rebels said they could not accept Russia as a sponsor of any new peace initiative, because it was a partner with the regime in its crimes against their people. It said Russian backed Syrian forces were using napalm and chemical weapons without censure from the international community. UN investigators are looking into the alleged use of the incendiary weapons phosphorus and napalm in several cities. The war has ground on for nearly six years, drawing in world powers and regional states. Islamic State, the enemy of every other party to the conflict, has seized swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. World powers appeared to believe that neither Assad nor his opponents were capable of decisive victory on the battlefield. But Russia’s apparent decision to abandon the latest peace process could signal it now thinks that victory is in reach, at least in the western cities where the majority of Syrians live. Assad’s fortunes improved a year ago when Russia joined the war on his side. Since then, Washington has worked hard to negotiate peace with Moscow, producing two ceasefires. But both proved short-lived, with Assad showing no sign of compromise. Outside Aleppo, anti-Assad fighters have been driven mostly into rural areas. Nevertheless, they remain a potent fighting force, which they demonstrated with an advance of their own on Saturday.

From hope to horror

A horrifying catalogue of human rights abuses including war crimes and crimes against humanity have overwhelmed Syria almost six years causing human suffering on a vast scale. Nearly 1.7m Syrians who are registered in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon live in precarious circumstances notwithstanding the generosity of hosting governments. According to various human rights organizations and UN, human rights violations have been committed by both the government and the rebels. The prospects of a negotiating peace settlement in the Syrian civil war are broken down. Now the hope are turn to horror.Source: Reuters, AFP, Guardian