War of annihilation
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“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 10 2.
BACKGROUND Raqqa was the first large Syrian city and provincial capital to fall to armed opposition groups during the crisis and subsequent conflict which engulfed the country since 2011. In early March 2013 armed groups, including the Islamist groups Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, expelled government forces from the city. By July 2013 the IS had established a powerful presence in the city and by that year’s end it had taken full control, following a power struggle with other armed groups. 1 Raqqa became a magnet for aspiring jihadists and served as IS’s de facto capital for its so-called “caliphate”, as the group went on to gain control of great swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014. The city remained under IS control until the joint Coalition-SDF military campaign to oust IS. The international Coalition to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria was formed in 2014. Named “Operation Inherent Resolve”, it described its mission as: “In conjunction with partner forces Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) defeats ISIS in designated areas of Iraq and Syria and sets conditions for follow-on operations to increase regional stability.” 2 The joint CJTF-SDF military operation to oust IS from Raqqa began on 6 June 2017 and was declared completed on 17 October 2017. The SDF is a local militia established in October 2015 and includes Arab and other elements but is dominated by Kurdish Yekîneyên Parastina Gel forces (YPG, People’s Protection Units). The SDF announced Operation Euphrates Wrath to oust IS from Raqqa and its surrounding areas on 6 November 2016. During the following six months, the SDF and Coalition forces captured several towns and villages around Raqqa, and on 6 June 2017 launched the offensive on Raqqa city. Amnesty International visited north-eastern Syria in July/August 2017 to investigate conduct of hostilities during the battle and the measures taken by the parties to the conflict – the US-led Coalition, its local partner the SDF and their adversary, IS – to protect civilians in compliance with their legal obligations. On 24 August 2017 Amnesty published a report which raised serious concerns about the US-led Coalition’s extensive use of artillery and air strikes in Raqqa and the lawfulness of some of these strikes. 3 In particular, it raised questions about the process by which SDF forces provided target co-ordinates for air and artillery strikes subsequently carried out by the US-led Coalition, as well as SDF and Coalition forces’ choice of weapons for fighting in the city. The SDF used US-made, unguided mortars, which are unable to discriminate between civilians and combatants in a populated urban environment, in much the same way as the unguided artillery used by US forces. Another key concern was the large net explosive weight of munitions used in air strikes, which ensured that civilians in the vicinity of intended targets would be killed and maimed. Immediately following the report’s publication, the UN Special Advisor on Syria called for a pause in hostilities to allow civilians out of the city. 4 The Coalition initially dismissed Amnesty International’s findings. 5
1 Islamic State (IS) is also known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and sometimes Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL). It is also referred to by its Arabic acronym, Daesh. 2 “Mission Statement”, Operation Inherent Resolve, available at http://www.inherentresolve.mil/Portals/14/Documents/Mission/20170717- %20Updated%20Mission%20Statement%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?ver=2017-07-17-093803-770 3 Amnesty International, “I won’t forget this carnage”: Civilians trapped in the fight for Raqqa – Syria (Index: MDE 24/6945/2017), 24 August 2017, and available at https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE2469452017ENGLISH.PDF 4 “No ‘worse place on earth’ than Syria’s Raqqa, says senior UN advisor urging for pause in fighting”, UN News, 24 August 2017, available at https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/08/563802-no-worse-place-earth-syrias-raqqa-says-senior-un-adviser-urging-pause-fighting. 5 Ibid. It was not the first time that Coalition military leadership refused to take seriously Amnesty International’s concerns about its conduct of hostilities during the war with IS. In response to Amnesty’s research detailing failure to protect civilians during the battle for west Mosul (At any cost: The civilian catastrophe in West Mosul – Iraq (Index: MDE 14/6610/2017), 11 July 2017, and available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/07/at-any-cost-civilian-catastrophe-in-west-mosul-iraq/), both Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend and his British Deputy, Major General Rupert Jones, accused Amnesty of “not understanding the realities of war”. The British General went as far as calling Amnesty International “naïve and deeply irresponsible” for raising concerns about protection of
“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 11
In the weeks after the publication of the report, however, the Coalition did appear to accept one of its key findings. Among the recommendations that Amnesty International made in the report was that the Coalition widen its investigation of alleged civilian casualty incidents to include site visits and interviews with witnesses. In its September 2017 civilian casualty report, for the first time, CJTF-OIR stated that “Investigations include interviewing witnesses and examining the site where possible…” 6 However, Amnesty International is not aware of any cases where Coalition investigators have visited the sites of strike location and/or interviewed witnesses. Amnesty International’s August 2017 report also detailed IS abuses against civilians during the battle for Raqqa, particularly IS’s use of civilians as human shields as the conflict got underway and the group redoubled efforts to prevent residents from leaving the city. IS laid mines/IEDs to slow advancing SDF forces and to render exit routes impassable, 7 set up checkpoints around the city to prevent residents from leaving, and its snipers shot and deliberately killed civilians who tried to escape. 8 As the SDF captured neighbourhoods and front lines shifted within the city, IS forced residents to move deeper into areas which remained under its control.
IS’s disregard for the most basic rules of international humanitarian law was flagrant. It trapped civilians in their neighbourhoods and used them as cover for military operations. IS entered residents’ homes by force and used them to conceal their movements and as firing positions against SDF lines. IS dress code, imposed on civilians and IS fighters alike, made it even more difficult for SDF and Coalition forces to distinguish between them.
civilians in Mosul: “Remarks by General Townsend in a media availability in Baghdad, Iraq”, US Department of Defense, 11 July 2017 and available at https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1244058/remarks-by-general-townsend-in-a-media- availability-in-baghdad-iraq/ 6 “CJTF-OIR Monthly civilian casualty report”, Operation Inherent Resolve, 29 September 2017, available at http://www.inherentresolve.mil/News/News-Releases/News-Article-View/Article/1329201/cjtf-oir-monthly-civilian-casualty-report/- 7 IEDs locally produced by IS are mostly victim-activated and broadly fulfil the function of anti-personnel mines – and are thus banned under international law. In this report, they are referred to as mines and/or IEDs. 8 The term “sniper” in this report refers to IS fighters who targeted people from concealed positions, even though the exact type of rifle used is unknown. Yüklə 5,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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