Syrian Network For Human Rights: A Distress Call for a Quarter Million Syrians under Siege in Deir Az-Zour Neighborhoods
Regime Forces Bomb School in Aleppo
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor
DAMASCUS, Syria – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the Syrian Civil War using a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported Sunday that at least nine people, including five children were killed by airstrikes which hit a school in the rebel-held area of Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo. Regime forces have denied the report saying that the army had stepped up attacks on rebels since the insurgents bombarded a government-held residential area in the northwestern city on Saturday. But he said the military had not targeted civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in the United Kingdom, released a video it says shows the aftermath of the deadly attack. In the video a man is seen holding what he says is the severed lower leg and foot of a young child, and rescue workers were shown carrying away what appeared to be a body wrapped in a sheet. According to the Observatory, at least 32 people were killed in Aleppo on Saturday, 17 of them in the government-held district of Suleimaniyah bombarded by rebels, and 15 of them in an army air strike that later hit a market in a rebel-held area. The organization added that a number of people were seriously wounded and the death toll is likely to rise.
The airstrikes that hit the school came just a day after the monitoring group and Syrian state rune media (SANA) reported shelling by Syrian rebels on a government-held neighborhood in Aleppo. Footage aired on Syrian state television on Saturday showing damaged buildings and injured people being treated at an overcrowded local hospital.
State TV media reported the shelling targeted the predominantly Christian and Armenian neighborhood of Suleimaniyah in Aleppo killing nine people and wounding 50. SANA also reported that several buildings were severely damaged and people were likely still trapped under the ruble.
Just hours after the shelling Syrian helicopters gunships targeted a market in Aleppo’s rebel-held neighborhood of Maadi in an apparent retaliation by the Syrian government, according to both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the opposition-run Aleppo Media Centre. The Observatory reported that ten people were killed in the attack and dozens more were badly injured.
Aleppo has a major frontline in the four-year-old Syrian civil war, a conflict that has killed an estimated 220,000 people. The city, 30 miles from the Turkish border, is divided between government and rebel control.
For more information please see:
Al Jazeera – ‘Children Killed’ In Syria’s Aleppo School Bombing – April 12, 2015
Al Arabiya – Five Children Dead in Air Strike on School in Syria’s Aleppo – 12 April 2015
Reuters – Monitor Says Syrian Army Bombs Aleppo School – 12 April 2015
Sky News Australia – Nine People Killed During Syria Air Strikes – 12 April 2015
United Nations: “Never Has the Hour Been More Desperate In the Palestine Refugee Camp of Yarmouk”
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor
DAMASCUS, Syria – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has begun an urgent mission to Syria in response to growing concerns over the health and safety of thousands of Palestinian refugees and Syrian civilians living in the Yarmouk refugee camp which has been overrun in recent days by militants loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General for the agency in the Near East, is visiting Yarmouk to assess the situation in the camp, hear from refugees affected by the violence, and consult with leaders on how to get desperately needed aid to people in need. A statement by The United Nations relief and works agency said: “Never has the hour been more desperate in the Palestine refugee camp of Yarmouk. We demand humanitarian access and the establishment of secure conditions under which we can deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance and that enable civilians to be evacuated.”
Since 1 April, Yarmouk has been the scene of intense fighting between a number of armed groups including ISIS which has made it virtually impossible for civilians to leave the camp located near Damascus. Yarmouk is the largest Palestinian camp in Syria and has been home to several generations of refugees. The camp has been a frequent battlezone in the Syrian Civil war, today just 16,000 residents remain in the settlement, down from a high 200,000 before the war. Most of the residents of the camp fled to nearby Lebanon where they now live in overcrowded refugee camps becoming refugees for at least a second time. Some have attempted to flee on dangerous migrant boats to Europe and Egypt.
“It’s beyond a nightmare,” said Salim Salamah, a former resident of the Yarmouk refugee camp who now leads the Palestinian League for Human Rights and speaks daily to people still living in the camp. Camp residents who have reached out to the outside world through the Internet say they don’t know which to fear most, long-term hunger, bombings from the Assad regime or the presence of ISIS. “We are afraid of everything, of the future and the unknown,” said Sameh Homam, an activist living in Yarmouk who uses an alias because he is being hunted by both the Assad regime and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The situation has been dire for the refugee camp for several years. Last year the community was largely cut off from the outside because of militant attacks as well as forces loyal to the Assad regime clash in the largely civilian community. For the civilians who remain in the community survival is a daily struggle. Chris Gunness, estimates that camp residents are surviving on 400 calories a day or less, he said, and conditions soon could become critical. “We simply cannot stand by and watch a massacre unfold,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said last week, urging concerted international action to save Yarmouk residents. “In the horror that is Syria, the Yarmouk refugee camp is the deepest circle of hell.”
For more information please see:
United Nations News Centre – UN Official on ‘Urgent’ Mission to Besieged Yarmouk Refugee Camp – 11 April 2015
The Washington Post – New Misery in Yarmouk, Symbol of Syria’s suffering – 11 April 2015
Belfast Telegraph – Isis Accused Of Beheading Captives In Palestinian Refugee Camp Yarmouk As Advance Towards Syrian Capital Damascus Continues – 7 April 2015
The Guardian – UN Warns Situation in Damascus Refugee Camp Is ‘Beyond Inhumane’ – 6 April 2015
Property Restoration as a Component of Transitional Justice
April 9, 2015
In early April, Syria’s Southern Front coalition seized the Nasib Border Crossing from government forces in a major rebel-led victory. Following the seizure, the rebels and their supporters looted the checkpoint, duty free shops, and trucks that were abandoned while crossing customs. Onlookers photographed and filmed rebels driving away from the checkpoint carrying everything from cooking oil to refrigerators, and soon afterwards, news of the looting spread through social media sites. Outrage ensued among the local community in nearby Dera’a. Plundering, however, has not been unique to the rebels. The Shabiha, a government militia force, has been documented looting and destroying civilian houses in Sunni neighborhoods. The stolen goods are then taken to Alawite areas and sold cheaply in so-called “Sunni Markets.”
Both the rebels and government-affiliated forces believe that they are justified in their actions because the goods they take are spoils of war. The rebels’ justification is rooted in the legacy of government corruption, whereby Syrian state assets have been illegally appropriated by the governing elite; for ordinary government forces, meanwhile, there are few incentives to fight in a complicated war except the ability to gain wealth through looting.
Property dispossession is a common occurrence in conflicts as each side feels as though it deserves compensation for the hardships their people have suffered. Where systems of justice have broken down and no accountability exists for bad behavior, certain groups take advantage of society’s grievances for their own financial gain. In rare instances, communities hold perpetrators accountable and behavior changes. In the case of the Nasib Border Crossing, for example, the documentation of looting by rebels created a sense of accountability, and as a result, the Southern Front Coalition issued a statement promising that it would return stolen goods to anyone who could prove ownership. Several stolen trucks were consequently returned. Conversely, despite significant documentation of the Sunni Markets, the regime has taken no known steps to restore property or put an end to this alarming practice.
Unlike the physical harms of torture and murder, property damage cannot be addressed in whole or in part by holding perpetrators accountable through prosecutions. For society to move on, rather, people must be able to repossess their houses and property or at least receive alternative resources to start a new life. In Syria, where the conflict has resulted in the widespread destruction of houses, cars, and household goods, social reconstruction cannot take place without addressing property as part of the transitional justice process. But making this happen can be a challenge, and the more time that elapses between the loss and the compensation program, the more difficult it will be to identify victims or their heirs and calculate the value of the damage.
This is where human rights documenters can play a pivotal role. Through the documentation of property dispossession, activists can create a record of loss and help facilitate the implementation of programs that enable victims to return to a life of dignity. The resulting restoration and reparations programs will require ingenuity and significant resources. In Bosnia, where the conflict led to massive displacement of half the population, Bosnians worked closely with the international community to create multiple institutions that oversaw the return of over 1 million displaced persons to their homes by 2003. Choice is also an important component of the process. Property restoration mechanisms should offer victims a choice of whether to return to their pre-conflict property or start anew elsewhere. The ability to choose restores a sense of dignity which is often lost when victims are forced to flee their homes with few possessions.
With over 12 million displaced persons in Syria, the challenges are immense. Nonetheless, property restoration and reparations must be included within a holistic transitional justice program. Recovering from the realities of the Syrian conflict will require nothing less. For more information or to provide feedback, please contact SJAC atinfo@syriaaccountability.org.