Syrians Seek UN Rights Ruling Against Russia for 2019 Hospital Attacks
May 02 2024 - 2:00AM
The Russian Federation has been accused before the UN Human Rights
Committee in Geneva of carrying out a deliberate attack on a
hospital in Syria—in a legal action that highlights Moscow’s
repeated use of military force against health care facilities in
Syria, where its forces have been supporting the regime of
President Bashar al-Assad.
A complaint before the Committee, filed on May 1, focuses on a
series of air strikes on Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital in Idlib
province on May 5, 2019.
It accuses the Russian Air Force of killing two civilians and
endangering the lives of all those working in and using the
hospital at the time—medical practitioners, patients, support
staff, and visitors.
The complaint has been brought before the Committee by a Syrian
man whose two cousins were killed by the attack, and by Hand in
Hand for Aid and Development, the humanitarian NGO that was
supporting the hospital at the time. Hand in Hand is representing
the interests of the patients of the hospital.
The applicants are represented by lawyers of the Open Society
Justice Initiative, with Professor Philip Leach, professor of human
rights law at the UK’s Middlesex University as co-counsel.
The evidence being presented to the Committee includes a
detailed account of the Russian Air Force attack on the hospital at
Kafr Nabl, and on three other hospitals near Kafr Nabl in just 12
hours on May 5-6, 2019. There was no fighting near the hospital at
the time of the attack, which lay in opposition-controlled
territory some 20km away from the front line.
The complaint draws on a wealth of video and audio recordings
made at the time, as well as eyewitness accounts that point to
direct Russian Air Force involvement in coordinating and executing
the attacks. The material includes observations of Russian aircraft
in the area at the relevant time, and audio recordings of
communications between a Russian pilot and Russian ground control,
authorizing the release of aerial munitions and confirming that the
aerial munitions had been dropped, at the precise times that
strikes were captured on video. Some of the material included as
evidence in the complaint was used by the New York Times in a
special report published on October 13, 2019.
Fadi al-Dairi, the director of Hand in Hand, said: “The Russian
air force attack on Kafr Nabl hospital was a well-documented
atrocity that was part of a systematic assault on hospitals and
healthcare facilities in opposition-held territory in Syria in
2019. The coordinates of the hospital had been shared with Russia
by the UN under the UN Deconfliction Mechanism. Syrians are looking
to the Human Rights Committee to show us some measure of redress by
acknowledging the truth of this brutal attack, and the suffering
caused."
James A. Goldston, executive director of the Justice Initiative,
said: “This complaint before a preeminent international human
rights tribunal exposes the Russian government and armed forces’
deliberate strategy of targeting healthcare in clear violation of
the laws of war. It must remind us all that attacks on protected
healthcare facilities—whether in Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, or the Gaza
Strip—are an abomination that must never be normalized.”
The complaint is being supported by expert analyses prepared by
Syrian Archive and Physicians for Human Rights. Physicians for
Human Rights has documented 604 attacks against medical facilities
in Syria since 2011, the overwhelming majority conducted by Syrian
and Russian forces.
Houssam al-Nahhas, MD, Middle East and North Africa Researcher
for Physicians for Human Rights, said: "Widespread and systematic
attacks on health care in Syria are part of a strategy implemented
by the Syrian and Russian governments, devastating the country’s
health care system. Despite the seriousness of these crimes, no
perpetrators have ever faced accountability. We hope this landmark
case helps to end the impunity for attacks on health care in Syria
and serve as a warning to perpetrators in other conflicts around
the world."
The Geneva-based Human Rights Committee is a body of 18
independent experts that monitors implementation of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which
has been signed by 173 countries. Under the ICCPR’s Optional
Protocol, which the Russian Federation signed in 1990, individuals
can bring complaints against signatory states before the Committee
over rights violations.
The complaint accuses the Russian Federation of perpetrating a
clear and serious violation of International Humanitarian Law by
deliberately attacking a protected medical facility, in breach of
the Right to Life under the ICCPR. The attack killed two brothers
and endangered the lives of everyone working in and using the busy
hospital. The hospital was operating normally at the time of the
attack and neither Russia nor Syria provided any warning before the
attack. This is not the only time the facility was targeted: Kafr
Nabl Hospital was attacked 13 times between 2014 and 2019.
From a legal perspective, a decision against Russia would
provide significant new jurisprudence on the extraterritorial
obligations of States in armed conflict, and would pave the way for
progressive decisions from other human rights bodies and
courts.
The Open Society Justice Initiative is part of the Open Society
Foundations, and pursues strategic litigation on a range of issues
including advancing human rights and advancing the rule of law. Its
work on Syria has included supporting efforts to bring top Syrian
officials and leaders to trial before national courts in Europe for
crimes against humanity committed in Syria.
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