Mass graves and evidence of crimes against humanity found in "liberated" Aleppo
The bodies of 21 people killed in east Aleppo are found, including five children and five women. Charges and counter-charges are made with respect to violence, human rights violations and summary executions of civilians. Moscow and Damascus slam Western governments for covering massacres perpetrated by jihadists and insurgents.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) – After its liberation from the Jihadi occupation, Aleppo continues to reveal the vicious face of its former occupants who for over four and a half years dominated one part of the city, extracting a high price from civilians held as hostages under their control.
According to reports from the official Syrian news agency SANA, the authorities discovered another mass grave with the bodies of 21 people killed in east Aleppo, blamed on “terrorist groups”, a term used by Syrian media to describe Salafist Jihadis and rebels.
Last Sunday evening, forensic experts cited by SANA, including Dr Zaher Hajjo, confirmed that "21 corpses of civilian victims, including five children and five women, killed by terrorist groups [. . .] were found in prisons run by the terrorist groups in Sukkari and al-Kalasseh, [. . .] executed by gunshot at very close range”.
Peace returned to the city of Aleppo following an unexpected agreement between Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, and Turkey, an ally and supporter of Jihadi and insurgent groups.
The deal to evacuate of Islamist fighters to Idlib Governorate, a Daesh* and Jihadi bastion, led to the departure of some 35,000 armed men and their families, out of a population of about 250,000 people in east Aleppo, now freed from Jihadi control.
In the days before the evacuation, the UN had received credible reports concerning the execution by pro-government forces of at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children.
Following this, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday announced that "Mass graves containing dozens of Syrians who were summarily executed and subjected to savage torture have been discovered".
Most were killed by gunshot wounds to the head and many bodies "were not whole," i.e. mutilated, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov is quoted as saying in Russian media.
Moscow newspapers added that these violations, documented with detailed evidence, should serve as a lesson "to European protectors in London and in Paris of the so-called opponents".
Western governments must "be aware of those they protected and recognise their responsibility in the cruelty committed by rebels and jihadists".
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has network of contacts in the country, confirmed the discovery on 25 December of dead bodies in the streets of Aleppo but could not specify how the victims were killed.
Western countries have accused Russia and the Syrian government, which carried out air strikes during the operations to liberate east Aleppo occupied by Jihadis and rebels, of “crimes against humanity".
The Kremlin and the Syrian government have rejected the charges and speak openly of "massacres of civilians committed by the terrorists with the support of Western countries". (PB)
* Arabic acronym for the Islamic State
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