Syria accused of razing neighbourhoods
Images suggest sections of cities are simply gone
BEIRUT — The Syrian government destroyed thousands of residential buildings, in some cases entire neighbourhoods, apparently to punish civilians sympathetic to the opposition, an international human rights group said Thursday.
The demolitions, using controlled explosives and bulldozers, took place between July 2012 and July 2013 in seven pro-opposition districts in and around the capital, Damascus, and in a second city, Hama, Human Rights Watch said in a report.
The group said the deliberate destruction broke international law.
“Wiping entire neighbourhoods off the map is not a legitimate tactic of war,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher for New Yorkbased HRW.
“These unlawful demolitions are the latest additions to a long list of crimes committed by the Syrian government.”
Human Rights Watch said many of the demolished buildings were apartment blocks, and that thousands of families have lost their homes.
It said government officials and media have described the demolitions as part of urban planning or an effort to remove illegally constructed buildings. But Human Rights Watch said its investigation found that military forces supervised the work, which targeted areas that had recently been hit by fighting and were widely understood to be pro-opposition.
There is no indication that pro-government districts have been targeted for similar destruction, HRW said.
The report includes satellite before-and-after images of the neighbourhoods.
Buildings in a Hama neighbourhood known as Masha al-Arbaeen are clearly visible in a photo dated Sept. 28, 2012. In a second photo from Oct. 13, the buildings have been pulverized into a white smudge, while the adjacent neighbourhoods remain untouched.
Former residents of demolished homes told HRW that the government bulldozers, directed by the military, moved in after the rebels retreated from the area in the face of an army offensive.
They said government forces had given little or no warning, and it was nearly impossible to remove their belongings, the report said. Owners reported receiving no compensation from the government.
The group noted that some demolitions took place near military facilities or in areas recently engulfed in fighting. However, it’s “not enough that there’s some tangential military objective or benefit to conducting the demolitions,” HRW’s Lama Fakih said. “The standard really requires that it be militarily necessary …”
Even then, demolitions shouldn’t “disproportionately harm civilians, which has not been the case here.”
Human Rights Watch said it based its report on 14 satellite images, interviews with 16 witnesses and owners of houses that were demolished. It also reviewed media reports, government statements, and videos posted online.
Solvang said the UN Security Council should refer the evidence to the International Criminal Court.
“No one should be fooled by the government’s claim that it is undertaking urban planning in the middle of a bloody conflict,” he said.