Russian human rights report condemns Russia’s role in Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A report by Russian human rights organizations condemned Russia’s participation in indiscriminate bombing operations inside Syria and its support for violations by the Damascus government.

The report, published by the British Guardian newspaper and reported by agencies and media, said that public opinion in Russia cannot judge what their government supports in Syria and the amount of suffering the war has caused to civilians.

The organizations explained that Russian state media does not talk about the victims of the bombing, nor about the forced displacement of civilians, “part of which resulted from Russian military actions in Syria.”

The report, entitled “A Destructive Decade: Violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Syrian War,” is the first condemnation against the government and Russian forces by human rights organizations inside Russia.

On September 30, 2015, Russian planes conducted their first raids in Syria, after the Russian Federation Council approved the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin to use armed forces outside the country.

Syrian armed groups accuse Russian forces of supporting the survival of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and of bombing residential areas and killing civilians.

Those who prepared the human rights report urged the Russian government to use its influence on the Syrian authorities to stop arbitrary arrests, torture of detainees, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances.

A week ago, Samer Elias, a political analyst, told North Press, “Russia follows systematic tactics it previously used in order to escalate conditions to the greatest possible extent, and then it will propose solutions to ease the escalation, gaining extra benefits and fulfilling solutions according to agreements with Turkey.”

The report holds states involved in the conflict, “topped by Russia, are responsible for the future of Syria.”