DOCSLIB.ORG

War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 14, Issue 07 -- May 11, 2019

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 14, Issue 07 -- May 11, 2019 PILPG Logo Case School of Law Logo War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Hassan FREDERICK K. COX Volume 14 - Issue 07 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER May 11, 2019 Technical Editor-in-Chief Kurt Harris Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf Managing Editors Gloria Neilson Faculty Advisor Mary Preston Jim Johnson War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email [email protected] and type "subscribe" in the subject line. Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group. Contents AFRICA NORTH AFRICA Libya Libya ‘war crimes’ videos shared on social media (BBC News) UN mission in Libya calls for humanitarian truce in Ramadan (The Libya Observer) Libyan officials say 200 people have been killed in recent fighting (The Guardian) CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic Strange Bedfellows: Central African Republic Government and Regional War Lords (The African Exponent) Russia trains CAR defence forces (The Southern Times) Sudan & South Sudan South Sudan: Activists' Bodies Dumped in River - State Agents (AllAfrica) UN Court Slams Jordan on Freedom of Sudan’s Bashir (Court House News) ICC declines to refer Jordan to UN for failing to arrest Sudan’s al-Bashir (Jurist) Does Sudan’s road ahead lead to democracy or anarchy? (Arab News) Are South Sudan's Kiir and Machar out to block peace and justice? (The East African) Sudan's Bashir to face questioning over 'financing terror' (Hilltop Monitor) Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo drops mercenaries investigation of opposition leader Katumbi (Reuters) Congolese refugees cross illegally into Uganda, raising risk of Ebola: aid groups (Reuters) Congo recaptures one of two fugitive suspects in U.N. experts' killings (Reuters) WEST AFRICA Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Lake Chad Region — Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon Four dead in suspected Boko Haram attack in Cameroon (Yahoo) Mali Ogossagou massacre could be a crime against humanity, UN Mali mission says (The Defense Post) Liberia The old ways of reintegrating young veterans need to be abandoned (The Conversation) Sirleaf Evades Questions about Her Link to Taylor (Liberian Daily Observer) Twenty years after war erupted, how listening and talking helps Liberians move on (The New Humanitarian) EAST AFRICA Uganda 25 witnesses defend Ongwen against war crimes (Daily Monitor) Kenya Violence flares in northern Kenya as pressure mounts on villagers (Reuters) Rwanda The Alleged War Criminal in the U.N.’s Midst (Foreign Policy) Somalia Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. target al-Shabaab terrorists (africanews.) Does America Know Who Its Airstrike Victims Are? (ForeignPolicy) EUROPE Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber Bosniak Ex-Soldiers’ Sentences for Attack on Serbs Increased (Balkan Insight) Bosnian Serb Ex-Military Policemen Appeal Massacre Convictions (Balkan Insight) Bosniak Ex-Officer’s War Crimes Appeal Rejected (Balkan Insight) Prijedor Murders Trial: Bosnian Serb Soldiers Ask For Acquittal (Balkan Insight) Bosnia Tries Ex-Fighters for Crimes Against Humanity in Konjic (Balkan Insight) International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia Convicted War Criminal Extradited to Croatia from Netherlands (Balkan Insight) Croatian Court Reduces Yugoslav Spy Chief’s Murder Sentence (Balkan Insight) Croatia Convicts Bosnian Serb of Detention Camp Abuses (Balkan Insight) Turkey Turkey sentences leading doctors to prison for condemning Syria offensive (Fox News) US & Western Arms in Yemen Conflict Signal Potential War Crime Charges (Inter Press Service) Explosion in Afrin: dead among Turkey-linked mercenaries (ANF News) Erdogan: Turkey will do everything in its power to save Libya from becoming another Syria (The Libya Observer) MIDDLE-EAST Iraq Ancient treasures looted from Syria and Iraq are being sold on Facebook, experts warn (Fox News) Three Turkish soldiers killed in Kurd mortar attack from Iraq: ministry (France 24) Iraq to Demand Cash for Islamic State Detainees (Voice of America) Pro-regime and Iran-backed militias sweep Syria-Iraq border for ISIS cells (The Defense Post) Syria US-led coalition 'killed 1,600 civilians' in Syria's Raqqa: Amnesty and Airwars say US, UK and French forces only admitted to 10 percent of killings. (Al Jazeera) Qatar envoy calls for accountability for war criminals in Syria (Middle East Monitor) IRC President and CEO David Miliband testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, alongside UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller, on the grave humanitarian impact of eight years of war in Syria and the path ahead for the crisis (International Rescue Committee) The Most Notable Human Rights Violations in Syria in April 2019 (Syrian Network for Human Rights) Escalation in Syria fighting cause for ‘great concern’ says UN chief, dozens more civilians dead or injured (UN News) Yemen US and Western arms in Yemen conflict signal potential war crime charges (The Manilla Times) Houthis accused of killing 12 civilians in south Yemen attacks (The National) Special Tribunal for Lebanon Israel & Palestine Shin Bet prevents Hamas suicide attack on election day (The Jerusalem Post) An indictment will be filed in the coming days against Abu Dia. Two rockets fired into Israel from Gaza after IAF strikes Hamas targets (The Jerusalem Post) Four Palestinians Killed, Two IDF Soldiers Injured In Gaza Flare Up (The Jerusalem Post) Islamic Jihad Warns It Will 'Hit Israel's Biggest Cities' After Airstrikes Hit Gaza (Haaretz) Four Israelis dead, 700 rockets and a weekend full of terror in Israel (The Jerusalem Post) Attempts to Demilitarize Gaza Will Trigger War in the Summer, Islamic Jihad Leader Says (Haaretz) Gulf Region Qatar envoy calls for accountability for war criminals in Syria (Middle East Monitor) France confirms contested arms shipment to Saudi Arabia (France 24) ASIA Afghanistan Nato-led forces have killed more civilians in Afghanistan than Taliban so far in 2019 (South China Morning Post) The Trump administration opposes the International Criminal Court. Do Americans agree? (The Washington Post) Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal 'Do not forget the Rohingya': UN urges support for refugees (Al Jazeera) Rohingya women, girls being trafficked to Malaysia for marriage (Al Jazeera) War Crimes Investigations in Myanmar Myanmar Army Denies Torturing 3 Rakhine Men, But Swift Cremation Raises Suspicions (Radio Free Asia) EU extends ban on arms sales to Myanmar (Associated Press) Arakan Army chief cries out in Myanmar (Asia Times) Specialized investigation into sexual violence in conflict is essential for justice, experts say (ReliefWeb / UN Women) Myanmar Army Rounds Up Hundreds of Rakhine Villagers For Questioning (Radio Free Asia) Myanmar Army Kills Six Detained Rakhine Villagers And Offers ‘Impossible’ Explanation (Radio Free Asia) Myanmar: Deaths in Army Custody Need Independent Inquiry Killing of 6 Villagers in Rakhine State Should Be Fully, Credibly Investigated (Human Rights Watch) AMERICAS North & Central America The Trump administration opposes the International Criminal Court. Do Americans agree? (The Washington Post) How the U.S. Became a Haven for War Criminals (The New Republic) Are El Salvador and Guatemala Seeking Justice for War Crimes, or Trying to Cover Them Up? (World Politics Review) South America Brazil is the Most Dangerous Country for Environmental Activists (The Rio Times) Colombia’s social organizations opt for self-protection as government fails to provide security (Colombia Reports) Days after attack in southwest Colombia, local leaders threatened with “extermination” (Colombia Reports) 'Cowardly attack' exposes Colombia activists in firing line (Reuters) The risks women take to defend the environment and the rights of indigenous people (Amnesty International) Venezuela Terrified Venezuelans fleeing Maduro join the masses at the southern border (New York Post) Venezuela was on the brink of an uprising. Now protesters are fighting for survival (CNN) TOPICS Truth and Reconciliation Commission Conflict victims’ associations to recommend names for transitional justice bodies (The Kathmandu Post) Fifty-one persons apply for the leadership of two transitional justice bodies (The Kathmandu Post) Md. lynching commission offers chance to investigate, atone (Baltimore Sun) Meet Fubbi Henries, the Victim Advocating for a Liberian War Crimes Court (Front Page Africa) Human rights commission might withdraw its representative from recommendation committee (The Kathmandu Post) Terrorism Trump's latest pardon is an implicit endorsement of war crimes (The Week (opinion)) Tech Companies Are Deleting Evidence of War Crimes Algorithms that take down “terrorist” videos could hamstring efforts to bring human-rights abusers to justice. (The Atlantic) Piracy Crew of Pirated Maltese-Flagged Ship Rescued by the Spanish Navy (Hellenic Shipping News) Nigeria Seeks Russian Military Aid in its War on Boko Haram (The Jamestown Foundation) Gender-Based Violence Kosovo war rape victim to appear before US Congress (Gazeta Express) Specialized investigation into sexual violence in conflict
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Call for Solidarity with Efrîn
    Call for Solidarity with Efrîn 12.03.2018 Preface This document includes declaration of several NGO’s and humanitarian organizations. Contents - NGOs and Humanitarian Actors signed on the statement. - Efrîn - Detailed file on the committed massacres done by the Turkish airstrikes and its allies on Efrîn. - Suspirations of using chemical weapons in Efrîn. - Civilian suffers in photos - Documented Victims in the period 20.1.2018 until 23.2.2018 - Detailed document on children victims of Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Detailed document about women women victims o Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Report about Basuteh massacre. - Attachment (signs and stamps of the NGOs) Annex - Map of the Efrîn 2 We the undersigning NGOs and humanitarian organizations, on the basis of the following statements and documentation reported by the Kurdish Red Crescent and other Humanitarian actors, deplore the aggression moved by Turkey against Efrîn region in north Syria, from where we get reports showing that the violations of human rights have reached to tragic levels. There are evidents that the Turkish state is braking international law and opposing the international conventions and resolutions during the ongoing massacres against the indigenous peoples of the region and also against the persons displaced in the same area. The Turkish state and some Free Syrian Army groups started this military attack on the 20th of January 2018 with an intensive shelling by Turkish warplanes, targeting both military sites and civil buildings in Efrîn such as houses, schools and hospitals. The Kurdish Red Crescent documented the death of 227 civilians, among those 32 child and 28 women, and 651 civilian are injured, among those 87 children and 93 women, due to Turkish attacks until 26’th of February.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Iraq's Kirkuk
    INSTITUT KURDDE PARIS E Information and liaison bulletin N° 392 NOVEMBER 2017 The publication of this Bulletin enjoys a subsidy from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Culture This bulletin is issued in French and English Price per issue : France: 6 € — Abroad : 7,5 € Annual subscribtion (12 issues) France : 60 € — Elsewhere : 75 € Monthly review Directeur de la publication : Mohamad HASSAN Misen en page et maquette : Ṣerefettin ISBN 0761 1285 INSTITUT KURDE, 106, rue La Fayette - 75010 PARIS Tel. : 01-48 24 64 64 - Fax : 01-48 24 64 66 www.fikp.org E-mail: bulletin@fikp.org Information and liaison bulletin Kurdish Institute of Paris Bulletin N° 392 November 2017 • ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE • TURKEY: THE REPRESSION EXPANDS TO LIBER- AL CIRCLES; THE VIOLENCE IS INCREASING • IRAQI KURDISTAN: UNCONSTITUTIONAL DEMANDS FROM BAGHDAD, ARABISATION OF KIRKUK RESTARTED ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. broad the “World Day for beginning to return to Raqqa, liber- the 17th with a suicide attack on a Kobani” was celebrated ated on 17th October. Regarding checkpoint that caused at least 35 on 1st November largely Deir Ezzor, the SDF fighters from victims in the Northeast of Deir as a symbol of this Syrian the “Jezirah Storm” operation, Ezzor Province, between the hydro- A Kurdish town’s unremit- launched on 9th September, liberated carbon fields of Conoco and Jafra. It ting resistance to the attack 7 villages near the town and about was, nevertheless, not able to pre- launched by ISIS in 2014 with fifteen km from the Iraqi borders, vent the SDF from reaching the Iraqi Turkish connivance.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection with United States Military Operations in 2019
    UNCLASSIFIED Department of Defense Annual Report on Civilian Casualties In Connection With United States Military Operations in 2019 Submitted pursuant to Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91), as amended The estimated cost of this report for the Department of Defense is approximately $20,000 for the 2020 Fiscal Year. This includes $25 in expenses and $20,000 in DoD labor. Generated on 2020April22 A-60DF323 1 UNCLASSIFIED Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115- 91), as amended, states the following: Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than May 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on civilian casualties caused as a result of United States military operations during the preceding year. (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) shall set forth the following: (1) A list of all the United States military operations, including each specific mission, strike, engagement, raid, or incident, during the year covered by such report that were confirmed, or reasonably suspected, to have resulted in civilian casualties. (2) For each military operation listed pursuant to paragraph (1), each of the following: (A) The date. (B) The location. (C) An identification of whether the operation occurred inside or outside of a declared theater of active armed conflict. (D) The type of operation. (E) An assessment of the number of civilian and enemy combatant casualties, including a differentiation between those killed and those injured.
    [Show full text]
  • A Perspective on Syria
    Internal bulletin – rs21 National Meeting 9 June – 10 June 2018 A perspective on Syria The Steering Group In 2011 Syrians engaged in some of the largest mass democratic protests in the country’s recent history. In what was viewed across the Arab world as a continuation of the ‘Arab Spring’, initially catalysed by the Tunisian Revolution, hundreds of thousands of Syrians took part in protests calling for greater civil liberties and an end to the Assad regime. Background – Syrian Ba’athism before the revolution In hindsight, it is easy to see why the protests happened when they did and on the scale that they did. For decades previously the policy of the ruling Ba’ath Party in Syria had been to suppress independent organisations in Syrian civil society by incorporating them within the state and offering financial incentives to maintain compliance from trade union bureaucracies, as well as making welfare provision dependent upon membership of state- monitored organisations. In the early 2000s a series of shocks to the Syrian economy threatened the viability of this model, and austerity measures of the regime weakened the stranglehold over Syrian civil society. Nevertheless, the Assad regime maintained an enormous state surveillance apparatus and a grotesque network of prisons, where political prisoners were, and continue to be, tortured. The Ba’athist policy in Syria pursued by the Assad Government - in which many key posts are held by members of the minority Alawite sect - was one of formal equality for ethnic minorities. Alawites in particular were a specifically persecuted group prior to the Assad regime, and much of the support for the regime from minority groups in the Syrian conflict can be attributed to fears of a loss of status if the regime falls.
    [Show full text]
  • <V[Czhr] `E Μ9raaz Vdd¶ E`Fc Xfzuv W`C >V]R ZR
    = >"? !"? ? (*$#(% +,-. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015 0. 1 !' 2 (() 34 0! - -- 9-/1- .9$. 7)8 8-)&98-1) : &)) &-6 )) .- 8)&%9) 98) ;<% /9 8-18--- !" / 01/ 02023 ,4. + $ %'( $) QR were to welcome Melania at the school and brief her about rationale behind introduction of “happiness classes” as well as the Delhi Government’s over- all reform initiatives in the edu- !" " P$% cation sector, officials said. Q ' ( “Names of Kejriwal and " " --./) Sisodia have been dropped " )*)* + " Kejriwal and Sisodia from the from the list of invitees. We do % " "( ames of Delhi Chief list. The comments actually not know who will receive and NMinister Arvind Kejriwal indicated that there is some- brief the First Lady about hap- (,"-". and his deputy Manish Sisodia thing fishy,” Bhardwaj claimed. piness classes when she visits # % * " L" are missing from the guest list According to the original our school,” said a Delhi &' ()* + * L for the February 25 event when schedule, Kejriwal and Sisodia Government official. ! " US First Lady Melania Trump " " is scheduled to visit a Delhi ) ( Government school in the * 0 ' % national Capital to watch “hap- ( piness classes” and interact OP with the students, sources said. "" (3 "" " The
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S
    ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security Issue The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the No. 394 Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S. Responses Jan 2016 Yossef Bodansky The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S. Responses Yossef Bodansky January 2016 Abstract Almost three months into the Russian military intervention in Syria and Iraq - a clear strategy has emerged. Russia is spearheading a regional allied effort to consolidate tangible gains - to stabilize the lines before Winter freezes the fighting. When fighting resume in early Spring 2016, the Jihadist forces will no longer be able to threaten the Fertile Crescent of Minorities and the buffer areas surrounding Shiite Iraq. Emboldened, better equipped and retrained - the forces allied with Russia will then be able to go on the strategic offensive under a unified master-plan. In mid-October, the Kremlin clarified that the Russian strategic-political objectives in Syria are to stabilize and consolidate the Assad administration as the key to defeating the Jihadist forces, as well as to compel the US-led West to accept and acknowledge this reality. For the Kremlin, all anti-Assad forces are terrorists. In mid-November, Putin returned to Moscow from the G-20 summit convinced that any attempt to deal with Obama was an exercise in futility and that a major face-off, even crisis, over Syria was only a question of time. Hence, the Kremlin resolved to seize the strategic initiative. Thus, the Russian military intervention has already had a profound impact on the region’s strategic-political posture.
    [Show full text]
  • The Latest Aleppo Battle May Give the Islamic State Another Reprieve | the Washington Institute
    MENU Policy Analysis / PolicyWatch 2611 The Latest Aleppo Battle May Give the Islamic State Another Reprieve by Fabrice Balanche Apr 26, 2016 Also available in Arabic ABOUT THE AUTHORS Fabrice Balanche Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor and research director at the University of Lyon 2, is an adjunct fellow at The Washington Institute. Brief Analysis Aside from President Obama, none of the main players in Syria has an interest in rushing toward Raqqa, so they will likely focus on exploiting the various campaigns around Aleppo instead. espite the ongoing peace negotiations in Geneva, each camp in the Syria war is preparing for a general D resumption of hostilities in the Aleppo area. In addition to the strategically important city itself, the Islamic State-occupied territory between Aleppo and the Euphrates is increasingly becoming a focal point, shifting attention away from the group's stronghold to the east and likely further delaying the Obama administration's goal of pushing IS out of its "capital" in Raqqa. CONTINUED ENCIRCLEMENT O n February 27, a ceasefire temporarily halted the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian army campaign to encircle the rebel-held portions of Aleppo city. By that point, the army had already cut the road to the border town of Azaz with the cooperation of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD (see PolicyWatch 2554, "The Battle of Aleppo Is the Center of the Syrian Chessboard"). That resulted in a hostile reaction from Turkey, which fired on the Kurdish militia to prevent it from taking Azaz city and the nearby Bab al-Salam crossing point.
    [Show full text]
  • The Syrian Opposition
    www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 0 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 1 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 2 Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ 3 First: The Military Outcome ....................................................................... 3 The Turkish Intervention ........................................................................ 4 The Battle of Raqqa ................................................................................ 4 The Course of Astana has changed the Situation in Syria ..................... 5 The Inter-Factional Scene ....................................................................... 5 Second: The Political Outcome .................................................................. 6 The International Actors ......................................................................... 6 The Syrian Opposition ............................................................................ 7 The Course of Geneva Negotiations ....................................................... 8 The Future of the Syrian Crisis in 2018 ..................................................... 8 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 3 Preface The year 2017 has witnessed dramatic changes in the Syrian arena after many
    [Show full text]
  • Isis's Insurgency Strategy
    OUT OF THE DESERT ISIS’S STRATEGY FOR A LONG WAR HASSAN HASSAN SEPTEMBER 2018 POLICY PAPER 2018-8 CONTENTS * SUMMARY * KEY POINTS * 1 INTRODUCTION * 2 ISIS’S FORMULA FOR SURVIVAL * 4 ISIS’S INSURGENCY STRATEGY * 8 RETREATING TO RURAL AREAS * 14 RECOVERY SIGNS * 17 WRONG LESSONS LEARNED? * 19 CONCLUSION * 21 ENDNOTES * 23 ABOUT THE AUTHOR * 24 ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE © The Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute 1319 18th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036 SUMMARY The collapse of ISIS’s caliphate and its subsequent flight from much of its former territory has been a triumph for the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq and Syria. However, for ISIS, expulsion from former urban strongholds is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another: the group has since rolled out a well-developed strategy to assure its future resurgence. This paper examines ISIS’s actions, publications, and communications to determine its insurgency strategies and long-term organizational outlook, emphasizing sources that have been largely overlooked by forces fighting the group. By analyzing the strategies ISIS uses and has used in its previous incarnations, this paper argues that insurgent groups like ISIS will continute to operate within the ungoverned space along the Syria-Iraq border, and that if left unchecked, the group is likely to re-emerge. KEY POINTS * The contiguous terrain linking Iraq and Syria provides an ideal space for jihadis to endure, entrench, and emerge again. * ISIS’s post-caliphate strategy is to target Sunnis that collaborate with government forces or other insurgent groups using hit-and- run tactics and targeted assassinations, using as its base desert areas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Blast Wounded of Raqqa, Syria: Observational Results from An
    OKeeffe et al. Conflict and Health (2019) 13:28 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-019-0214-0 RESEARCH Open Access The blast wounded of Raqqa, Syria: observational results from an MSF- supported district hospital Jennifer OKeeffe1, Larissa Vernier1, Vanessa Cramond1, Shazeer Majeed1, Antonio Isidro Carrion Martin3* , Maartje Hoetjes2 and Mohana Amirtharajah2 Abstract Background: In June 2017, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a military operation to retake the city of Raqqa, Syria, from the so-called Islamic State. The city population incurred mass numbers of wounded. In the post-offensive period, the population returned to a city (Raqqa) contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosive remnants of war (ERWs), resulting in a second wave of wounded patients. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported a hospital in Tal-Abyad (north of Raqqa) and scaled up operations in response to this crisis. We describe the cohort of blast-wounded cases admitted to this hospital in order help prepare future humanitarian responses. Methods: We retrospectively extracted data from clinical charts in the MSF-supported hospital. We included all new admissions for blast-wounded patients with key data elements documented. We performed comparative analyses from the offensive period (June 6, 2017 to October 17, 2017) and the post-offensive period (October 18, 2017 to March 17, 2018). Results: We included 322 blast related injuries. There were more than twice the number of cases with blast injuries in the post-offensive period as the offensive period (225 vs. 97, p=<.001). The offensive period saw a significantly higher proportion of female patients (32.0%, n = 31 vs.
    [Show full text]
  • Seeing Through the Rubble the Civilian Impact of the Use of Explosive Weapons in the Fight Against ISIS
    Seeing Through the Rubble The civilian impact of the use of explosive weapons in the fight against ISIS. Airwars and PAX have strived to achieve the highest level of accuracy in this report, which is primarily based on desk research and publicly available sources of information. Because there was a lack of information available in the public domain on the civilian impact of explosive weapons use in Hawijah, semi-structured interviews via email were held with six different sources. Some of these sources have been anonymised in the report for security and operational reasons, at their request. All anonymised information in the report has been confirmed by at least two independent sources, unless indicated otherwise. We welcome comments, clarifications and additional information, in the spirit of dialogue and in the common search for accurate and reliable information on this important subject. If you believe you have found an inaccuracy in our report or if you can provide additional information, please contact us at [email protected]. Authors Roos Boer (PAX) Laurie Treffers (Airwars) Chris Woods (Airwars) We would like to thank the following people for their contribution to the report: Saba Azeem, Laura Boillot, Dmytro Chupryna, Mohammed al Jumaily, Azmat Khan, Omar Mohammed, Donatella Rovera, Lex Runderkamp, Frank Slijper, Susi Snyder, Hugo Van Halder, Vincent Vrijhoef, Marjolein Wijninckx and Liesbeth Zegveld. Design by Tutaev Design Front Cover A March 2017 airstrike during the battle for Mosul against ISIS © Reuters/ Alaa Al-Marjani. PAX / Airwars ! Seeing Through the Rubble Table of Contents Introduction 4 1 Inherent Risks from the Use of Explosive Weapons in 6 Populated Areas 1.1 Explosive Weapons 6 1.2 Civilian Harm 8 1.3 The International Political Response 10 2 Fighting ISIS 11 2.1 The US-led Coalition: “Many Nations, One Mission”.
    [Show full text]
  • The PYD's Separatist Project
    The PYD’s Separatist Project in the Syrian Euphrates Region Abdullah Al-Najjar Political research Hermon Center for Contemporary Studies is a non-profit organization, focused mainly on producing studies and research on the Syrian situation, implementing and managing projects, activities and initiatives to rebuild Syria on the foundations of democracy, freedom, social justice, human rights, human dignity and equal citizenship values. For Contacts: e-mail: [email protected] Harmoon Center For Contemporary Studies The PYD’s Separatist Project in the Syrian Euphrates Region January 2020 Abdullah Al-Najjar Authors This study was conducted by Abdullah Al-Najjar, with the help of former col- leagues and acquaintances who assisted him in collecting and verifying the infor- mation. Three of them had submitted three background papers: two on education, and one on the oil issue. In light of the positions of these individuals where they live, we will not be disclosing their names, but would like to thank them very much. Abdullah Al-Najjar is a former officer at the Political Security Directorate, with a degree in law. He worked in Hasakeh Province for 12 years, including nine and a half years in Qamishli district, as an assistant and head of the Qamishli police station, and head of the Amuda police station. He defected from the Political Se- curity Directorate in 2012 with the rank of major. He currently works in the field of studies and research related to east of the Euphrates, and on issues related to security and the military. Harmoon Center For Contemporary
    [Show full text]