A raid on Idlib – AP
In a new report, issued by Human Rights Watch, it revealed the names of 10 Russian and Syrian civilian and military officials, whom it considered responsible – on the basis of command responsibility – for serious violations in Idlib governorate, northern Syria, that may amount to crimes against humanity.
According to the report, these ten are responsible for dozens of unlawful air, ground and ground strikes on schools, hospitals, and popular markets crowded with civilians, from April-April 2019 to March-March 2020, which killed hundreds of civilians.
What puts the matter under a microscope of concern is that these attacks, which affected health, education, and the lack of water, food, and housing, caused displacement and mass migration.
The report details the violations that took place during the 11-month-long Syrian-Russian campaign in an attempt to retake Idlib Governorate and the surrounding areas.
And at the forefront of the names is the president of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, the supreme commander of the Syrian armed forces, followed by his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, then General Ali Ayoub, the Syrian Minister of Defense, whose name came from among several military commanders in the Syrian army, who were included in the American sanctions lists. Against the Syrian regime.
As for the fourth of the three, Major General Ahmed Balloul, commander of the Syrian air force, is one of the officials responsible for coordinating fighter strikes on populated areas with internationally banned weapons, and Baloul, subject to previous British, Canadian and American sanctions.
And the fifth of those mentioned is Sergey Shoigu, the Russian Defense Minister, and he is the second man in the hierarchy of the Russian army.
And in sixth place, Valery Gerasimov, a general in the Russian army, holds the position of First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia and Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Sergey Rudskoy, the seventh of the names, is a general in the Russian army and is the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The eighth, Sergey Vladimirovich Sorovkin, is a colonel in the Russian forces who served as commander of the Russian forces in Syria from March – March 2019 until April 10, 2019.
Andrei Nikolaevich Serdyukov, a colonel in the Russian forces, was the ninth, and served as commander of the Russian forces in Syria from April 10, 2019 until September 2019.
And the last of them, Alexander Yurievich Shaiko, a general in the Russian army, and who served as commander of the Russian forces in Syria from September 2019 until now.
It is noteworthy that the organization has documented 46 air and ground attacks, which included the use of cluster munitions, which directly hit, or caused damage to, civilians and infrastructure in Idlib, in violation of the laws of war.
The strikes also killed at least 224 civilians and wounded 561, and according to the organization, these were only a fraction of the total attacks during the campaign period on Idlib and its surrounding areas, which caused the displacement of 1.4 million people, most of them in the last months of the operation.
It is noteworthy that the organization said that its report discloses for the first time the names of Russian and Syrian military officials, after it relied on several research it carried out remotely, verifying more than 500 photos and videos, and analyzing satellite images.
