Syrian Jihadists accused of ‘execution’ war crimes

DAMASCUS: Jihadist fighters were accused on Friday of war crimes over the killing of 190 civilians from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority, in the largest atrocity attributed to rebels. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the killings of Alawite villagers said another 200 people — the vast majority women and children — were taken hostage in the rebel operations in August. The report, which urged an arms embargo on groups suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity, said at least 67 people were “executed or unlawfully killed”. It comes as Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he sees no military solution to the 31-month conflict which has killed more than 115,000 people. HRW said the killings began on August 4, the first day of the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday ending the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan, in villages in Latakia province. “These abuses were not the actions of rogue fighters,” said HRW’s Joe Stork. “This operation was a coordinated, planned attack on the civilian population.” The 105-page report, based on interviews with 35 survivors, emergency personnel and fighters on both sides, said at least 20 groups were involved, but that five “are responsible for specific incidents that amount to war crimes”. It named them as Ahrar al-Sham, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Nusra Front, Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar and Suqur al-Ezz. HRW said that, in some cases, opposition fighters who are mostly Sunni Muslims executed or gunned down entire families, or killed the elderly or infirm who had been left behind by those who fled. It also said “some of the opposition atrocities... had clear sectarian motivation”. In one village, it said fighters intentionally damaged an Alawite maqam, a site where a religious figure is buried, and “appear to have intentionally damaged and dug up the grave”. It said they had also abducted and executed the area’s Alawite religious leader, quoting Al-Nusra as saying he had been executed because he supported the regime. HRW quoted opposition forces, including an officer involved in negotiations, as saying ISIL and Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal-Ansar were still holding 200 hostages, mostly women and children. It called for them to be treated humanely and released immediately. “We have documented abuses by opposition forces before, but never on this scale,” HRW researcher Lama Fakih told AFP. “Violators on all sides should be sent a message by the UN Security Council” which should refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. The opposition National Coalition expressed “deep concern” about the reported atrocity and distanced itself from those responsible. “The incident reported by HRW in today’s report does not represent an effort by the true Syrian opposition, but rather a shameful one-time attack by outlier extremist groups that thrive under the hand of the Assad regime,” a statement said. In Athens, Nato’s Rasmussen “there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria”, emphasising a political solution was required.