Syria conflict: US calls for Russia and Syria war crimes probe
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7 October 2016
- From the section Middle East
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Reuters
John Kerry called for the investigation at a news conference with his French counterpart
Russia and the Syrian government should be investigated for war crimes, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.
“Russia, and the regime, owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities and children,” he said.
“These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes.”
Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, and said it targets terrorist groups in Syria.
Mr Kerry, however, said Russian and Syrian government attacks on hospitals were “beyond the accidental” and part of a deliberate strategy in war-torn Syria.
“This is a targeted strategy to terrorise civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives,” he said.
Mr Kerry was speaking in Washington at a joint news conference with the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault.
Mr Ayrault is in Washington ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council, where he will present a plan for a further ceasefire to try to get humanitarian access to Aleppo.
US and Russian talks on the crisis have cooled after the breakdown in a ceasefire brokered in September. Both sides blame each other for the collapse.
Mr Kerry’s remarks come hours after Russia said it was ready to back a new UN plan to end violence in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special envoy for the Syrian crisis, appealed for fighters from the rebel group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – formerly known as the Nusra Front – to be able to leave Aleppo with their weapons.
He said he was prepared to personally accompany the jihadists out of the city if it would stop the fighting.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, backed the plan “for the sake of saving Aleppo.”
The jihadist faction, however, has already rejected the proposal as a “surrender”.
Eastern Aleppo, held by rebel forces, has been subjected to a constant campaign of air strikes by Syrian and Russian forces in recent weeks. About 275,000 people still live in the eastern part of the city.
Russia and Syria say their forces are attacking Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. Western powers dispute this, pointing to the high proportion of civilians being killed.
Mr de Mistura said only about 900 of the estimated 8,000 fighters in eastern Aleppo were members of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.