Rights group says Putin may bear ‘command responsibility’ for war crimes in Syria

Sara Kayyali, the Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch, says the attacks appear designed to make it easier for the Syrian government to retake opposition areas by first emptying them of civilians.

“They either kill a large amount of civilians, which also fulfills their purpose, or they end up displacing them because those areas are unlivable,” Kayyali said. 

The 167-page report is based on interviews with more than 100 civilian witnesses and rescue workers, as well as experts on the Russian and Syrian armed forces. Researchers also analyzed satellite imagery of the strike locations, reviewed logs of flight spotters and examined more than 550 videos and photographs taken during or in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. 

In one of the deadliest attacks documented, a munition hit a four-story apartment, nearby shops and a small market in the town of Maarat al-Nu’man before a second munition struck, collapsing two three-story buildings. 

“I remember one boy who had been carrying vegetables in his hands when he was killed,” one volunteer rescue worker said of the July 2019 attack. “His severed hands were still gripping them.”

Damascus and Moscow deny targeting civilians and insist they only target extremist groups in Idlib like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

The report names 10 Russian and Syrian officials who under the doctrine of command responsibility knew or should have known about the abuses against civilians and failed to prevent them or punish those responsible. 

That list includes both commanders-in-chief, Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; Syria’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub; Syria’s air force commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Balloul; and Russia’s defense minister, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. 

“There’s evidence that they were heavily involved in the development of the strategy, that they regularly requested updates on it and that they were provided with notice that these war crimes and violations are being committed — and apparently did nothing to stop them,” Kayyali said. 

The watchdog group urged concerned governments to consider sanctions against those senior officials who “bear command responsibility” and where possible, pursue criminal cases against them in their own countries.