Syria Watch

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Syria

Atrocity Alert, No. 49, 5 April 2017

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Syria

On 4 April a suspected chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government took place in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province. The attack killed at least 60 people, including 11 children. Eyewitness reports, videos and photographic evidence appear to show victims suffering from symptoms consistent with severe exposure to a nerve agent, such as sarin gas. It was also reported that hours later an airstrike targeted a local medical facility treating victims of the attack.

If verified, Khan Shaykhun would be the deadliest chemical weapons attack to take place in Syria since August 2013, when more than 1,000 people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta during a sarin attack. Despite the Syrian government agreeing to surrender its chemical weapons in the aftermath of that attack, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Joint Investigative Mechanism (OPCW-JIM), mandated by the UN Security Council (UNSC), has determined that the Syrian government has used chlorine gas as a weapon on at least three occasions since then – in Talmenes on 21 April 2014, Qmenas on 16 March 2015, and Sarmin on 16 March 2015. The OPCW-JIM also determined that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant used mustard gas in Marea on 21 August 2015. These attacks violate international law and directly contravene UNSC Resolution 2118 of September 2013.

The prohibition of chemical weapons is one of the oldest norms of the international community, dating back to 1899. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 reinforced the strict prohibition of chemical weapons under international law. Chemical weapons remain inherently immoral, indiscriminate and illegal. The use of chemical weapons and the deliberate targeting of medical facilities both amount to war crimes.

The failure of the Security Council to act in relation to the findings of the OPCW-JIM is leading to the normalization of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Less than two months ago, on 28 February, the United Kingdom, United States and France put forward a draft UNSC resolution that would have held accountable, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, Syrian government officials and entities linked to chemical weapons attacks that have taken place in Syria since 2013. The resolution was not adopted due to Russia and China’s sixth double-veto. As the attack in Idlib demonstrates, such vetoes shield perpetrators and perpetuate a climate of impunity.

The UNSC held an emergency meeting on 5 April during which many Council members condemned the Khan Shaykhun attack and the use of chemical weapons. A draft resolution is currently under negotiation.

We urge all Security Council members to come together to uphold their responsibility to protect civilians in Syria. The international community cannot allow the normalization of chemical warfare to continue. For the sake of the Syrian people the Security Council must speak with one voice and hold those responsible for the Khan Shaykhun attack accountable under international law.

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Syrian Network for Human Rights: No less than Nine Chemical Attacks since the Beginning of 2017

In its 4th report which was published on October 21, 2016, the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism, established in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2235 on August 7, 2015, has declared the Syrian regime responsible for three chemical attacks that took place between 2014 and 2015, and declared ISIS responsible for one attack in Marea city in Aleppo. SNHR has published a report that highlights the chemical attacks in the period of time between the 4th report and the end of 2016.

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Syrian Network for Human Rights: 1134 Civilians Killed in March 2017

Introduction and Methodology

The report includes only the death toll of civilians that were killed by the main six influential parties in Syria:

Syrian regime forces (Army, Security, local militias, Shiite foreign militias)

Russian forces

Self-management forces (consisting primarily of the Democratic Union Party forces, a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party)

Extremist Islamic groups

Armed opposition factions

International coalition forces

Other parties

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Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Bridging the Digital Divide of Human Rights Documentation in Syria

SJAC Update | March 30, 2017
DatNav Arabic cover. Photo from The Engine Room.
Bridging the Digital Divide of Human Rights Documentation in Syria
This week in Brussels, human rights and technology organizations convened at RightsCon to hear about the latest developments at the intersection of the Internet and human rights. At the same time, a collaborative effort between Amnesty International, Benetech, and The Engine Room released the Arabic version of DatNav: How to navigate digital data for human rights research. DatNav was created in May 2016, and brings together 70 leaders of the human rights, technology, and data communities representing over 40 organizations.  The translation of DatNav into Arabic is made possible by Meedan, a group building digital tools for global journalism and translation.
The translation of DatNav gives Syrian civil society groups greater access to information about the benefits and limitations of a variety of digital tools. DatNav Arabic also provides advice on how groups with limited resources can still leverage digital data in their documentation work. The guide, however, is not a replacement for a sound documentation methodology. Rather, DatNav unlocks the ability of documentation groups to understand how digital data can contribute to information about human rights violations, including by strengthening the veracity of traditional documentation methods like interviews.
DatNav is not only a valuable resource for civil society; when the UN’s new International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) begins developing its methodology for building case files through documentation collection and analysis, it will be confronted with an enormous challenge given the large volume of information that has emerged from Syria and the variety of digital resources available, including satellite imagery, social media data, and telephone records. Given that the IIIM’s mandate is broader than the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI-Syria), many groups have suggested that the UN create a technology task force for the IIIM to assess the different digital tools available. It is also critical that the IIIM reach out to existing documentation groups to understand what types of data have been collected to date and how to prioritize its collection and analysis in order to complement what has already been achieved.
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The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a Syrian-led and multilaterally supported nonprofit that envisions a Syria where people live in a state defined by justice, respect for human rights, and rule of law. SJAC collects, analyzes, and preserves human rights law violations by all parties in the conflict — creating a central repository to strengthen accountability and support transitional justice and peace-building efforts. SJAC also conducts research to better understand Syrian opinions and perspectives, provides expertise and resources, conducts awareness-raising activities, and contributes to the development of locally appropriate transitional justice and accountability mechanisms. Contact us at info@syriaaccountability.org.