Assads latest war crimes

June 1, 2015 12:02 am0 Comments

by Dr Habib Siddiqui

People gather at the scene after Syrian government forces are reported to have dropped barrel bombs on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on
May 30. Barrel bombs dropped from regime helicopters killing more than 70 civilians in Aleppo while government forces in neighbouring Iraq
retook an area west of the jihadist-controlled city of Ramadi. AFP/Karam Al-Masri

THERE are not too many governments in our time that massacre their own people just to stay in power. Bashar al-Assads regime
in Syria is one such criminal government outside those of Myanmar and China that has not learnt to alter its hideous means
that have served it quite well to hang on to power by hook or crook. To add to its already long list of crimes against the Sunni
majority, Bashar al-Assads murderous sectarian (Nusayri) regime dropped barrel bombs on Saturday in the northern city of alBab in the province of Aleppo, killing some 72 civilians. These bombs were dropped in the busy market from government
helicopters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which gathers information through a network of activists in Syria, called it
one of the worst massacres perpetrated by the government so far this year. Activists report barrel bombs being dropped from
government helicopters every day in different parts of the country. They consist of steel drums packed with explosives and
shrapnel and sometimes with chlorine also added, according to many reports. As reported and verified by multiple observers,
these barrel bombs are dropped randomly to terrorise ordinary citizens and often causing massive damage and indiscriminate
casualties in areas where these are dropped. The United Nations says in some instances, civilian gatherings have been
deliberately targeted by the Assad regime, constituting massacres.
Meanwhile, the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) is reported to have blown up Tadmur prison near the ancient city of
Palmyra, which fell to the militants earlier in May. The prison was for decades a symbol of state oppression in Syria. It had held
thousands of political prisoners, who faced years of torture and disease in its cells. Many were executed by the Assad regime.
According to human rights group SOHR, in the past 15 months (January 2014March 2015) alone, some 3,124 civilians were
killed as a result of barrel bombs. Three schools were hit, 17 hospitals were damaged and 23 mosques were damaged or fully
destroyed by such bombings.
In February 2015, the Human Rights Watch group accused the Assad regime of dropping barrel bombs on hundreds of sites in
2014, violating a UN Security resolution. The regime also continues to use toxic chemicals eg chlorine and ammonia
against rebel-held territories in the north killing civilians.
As I have noted earlier, had the UNSC and the powerful western states been serious about toppling the Assad regime, they could
have provided the necessary material support for the rebels shortening his rein in power. Instead, they found every possible
excuse not to do so which only let the rebel movement to be hijacked by more radical elements, eg the ISIS. And then, as it
became quite evident, the western interest lay in defeating or weakening the ISIS, which in turn has meant strengthening the grip
of the murderous Assad regime. As of March of this year, some 1,093 and 1,431 air strikes were directed against the ISIS
positions inside Syria and Iraq. The disappointment caused by the Wests inaction created a fertile recruiting ground for
extremists, who told those who had lost their loved ones that they were their only hope, says a civil society activist when
interviewed by the BBC.
Further complicating the issue, the regional powers are not sitting idle either. The Iranian government and the Hizbullah of
Lebanon, regrettably, have joined the side of the Assad regime while most Arab countries in the region are opposed to it. Thus, a
popular civil unrest and revolution has now been transformed into a sectarian fight where the criminal Assad regime sees it as a
life or death test for its minority but all-powerful Nusayri sect.

In the midst of this chaos, it is the ordinary civilians who are paying the toll. Caught in the middle, they are getting killed like
cattle brought to the slaughter house! By March of this year, more than 2,20,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four years of
armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million
others almost a half the total population of Syria have been forced out from their homes. Overall, an estimated 12.2 million
are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including 5.6 million children, the UN says. A report published by the UN in
March 2015 estimated the total economic loss since the start of the conflict to be $202 billion and that four in every five Syrians
were now living in poverty 30 per cent of them in abject poverty. Syrias education, health and social welfare systems are also
in a state of collapse.
More than a year ago, I got a distressing call from an old Syrian friend of mine who told me how more than a dozen members of
his immediate family were killed by the Assad regime. He was naturally very sad and went back home to find out the conditions
of his relatives. He was originally from Aleppo the very place which has been barrel-bombed lately by the criminal Assad
regime. I do not know whether he or any members of his family are alive today. I have not heard from him ever since. I could
only pray and hope that he and his family are okay.
The criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad needs to be brought down to save the Syrian people from the wretched crisis they face
today. The UNSC can facilitate that outcome by stopping Assads aeroplanes and helicopters from flying. But will it do such or
let the massacre of ordinary Syrians to continue?
Dr Habib Siddiqui, a peace and rights activist, writes from Pennsylvania.
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