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The UN Commission of Inquiry has joined the calls of other UN officials for the Assad regime to be held accountable for its attacks on civilian sites, including hospitals.
The chairman of the Commission, Paulo Pinheiro, said on Wednesday:
Failure to respect the laws of war must have consequences for the perpetrators.
Until the culture of impunity is uprooted, civilians will continue to be targeted, victimized and brutally killed.
Although the Commission did not explicitly name the Assad regime or Russia, it cited recent attacks carried out by one or both. These included the missile strikes on the al-Quds Hospital in opposition-held east Aleppo city on April 27, killing 55 people and wounding 80; other attacks on nearby medical facilities; airstrikes on markets, bakeries, and a water station; and a May 5 attack on a refugee camp in Idlib Province that killed at least 28 people and injured 55.
All the attacks happened during a nominal “cessation of hostilities” declared on February 27. Both the regime and Russia stepped up airstrikes in and near Aleppo city from April 21, following gains of territory by rebels and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra.
The UN’s head of humanitarian operations, Stephen O’Brien, said just after the attack on the Kamouna refugee camp that it could be a war crime and that the attacker must be “fully held to account for this absolutely abominable act”.
Russia’s Defense Ministry and the Assad regime have put out a series of shifting explanations, without evidence to claim that they did not carry out the attacks. These include blame on the US-led coalition, even though it does operate near Aleppo city; claims of Jabhat al-Nusra responsibility; assertions that hospitals and medical facilities were struck last year and did not suffer further damage; and denials that their warplanes were in the area.
Since Russia’s aerial intervention on September 30, scores of civilian sites have been struck, including more than 30 medical facilities.