The United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Syria, which reports directly to the Human Rights Council, said that on October 5 last year, a series of explosions occurred at a military academy graduation ceremony in government-controlled Homs, killing at least 63 people, including 37 civilians, and that the fighting warned that the situation had intensified.
The Syrian government and Russian forces “counterattacked with artillery fire” and attacked at least 2,300 rebel-held areas in three weeks, resulting in “hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries,” investigators said.
The statement said the attacks included “well-known and visible hospitals, schools, markets and camps for internally displaced persons” and could amount to war crimes.
90% live in poverty
Paulo Pinheiro, head of the Commission of Inquiry, said 16.7 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid due to the 13-year civil war, arguing that the Syrian people “cannot sustain” fighting any longer. This is the largest number of people in need of humanitarian assistance since the end of the war. The beginning of the crisis.
“More than 90% now live in poverty, the economy is stagnant amid tightening sanctions, and increased illegality is fueling looting and extortion by the military and militias,” Pinheiro said. did.
Syria is using cluster munitions in densely populated areas, “continuing the destructive and illegal patterns we have recorded in the past,” Hany Megary said.
“Almost 120,000 people were evacuated in October's attacks, many of whom have been forced to evacuate many times before, including in the devastating earthquake last February.”
Meghary said it was not surprising that the number of Syrians seeking asylum in Europe reached its highest level in seven years last October, as Syria remains the world's largest displacement crisis. Ta.
Since the start of the Gaza conflict, tensions have increased between some of the six foreign forces operating in Syria, particularly Israel, Iran and the United States, all raising concerns of an escalation of the conflict, the commissioners said. Ta.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Syria, Turkish forces are accelerating operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in retaliation for an attack claimed by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in Ankara in October, the commission said. Announced.
Turkey's air raids on power plants have left nearly a million people without water and electricity for weeks, in violation of international humanitarian law.
The commission's report is scheduled to be submitted to the Human Rights Council on Monday 18 March.
Myanmar: Deep concerns over the use of heavy weapons in residential areas
The United Nations humanitarian agency is deeply concerned by the “indiscriminate use” of heavy weapons in residential areas in Myanmar's Rakhine state during fighting between forces loyal to the ruling military junta and rebel Arakan Army. A UN spokesperson said on Monday.
Men move on motorbikes through the cyclone-ravaged Techaung internally displaced persons camp. Sittwe, Rakhine State.
Stephane Dujarric said the use of artillery poses grave risks to civilians and costs civilian lives as fighting intensifies between numerous rebel groups and the national army across the country. .
“At least eight Rohingya civilians were killed and 12 others, including five children, were injured when stray bullets landed in a residential area in the provincial capital, Sittwe, on Saturday,” a UN spokesperson said.
More than three years after the military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government, more than 4,600 people, including hundreds of women and children, have been killed, amid a violent crackdown on all forms of opposition and protest. The death toll could be even higher.
Rakhine state is home to the predominantly Muslim Rohingya minority, and hundreds of thousands of them fled across the border to Bangladesh after a brutal military crackdown in 2017.
“This is the second time in two weeks that people have been killed by stray shells in Sittwe.
The situation has led to a sharp increase in the number of displaced people across the state. More than 300,000 people are currently evacuated, Dujarric added.
He said the tactics used by parties to the conflict were harming civilians and undermining the continued ability of humanitarian actors to continue delivering aid to people in need.
“We remind all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, including aid workers.”
Truth and justice call the missing Thai lawyer
A full 20 years after Thai lawyer and activist Somchai Neerapaijit went missing, it's time for authorities to find out what happened to him, an independent human rights expert says. the head of the house said on Monday.
The joint appeal, led by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, comes almost 20 years after Neelapaijit's disappearance.
His alleged enforced disappearance is believed to be related to his work as a lawyer defending the Muslim minority in southern Thailand.
No one has been held accountable for Neelapaijit's enforced disappearance, but “truth, justice and redress” in his case must be achieved “without delay”, rights experts said. insisted.
Despite facing intimidation and retaliation in the process of seeking justice, their wife Angkana never gave up on her quest and became the first Asian woman to join the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances. He even emphasized that.