Syria militants commit war crimes in Ghouta: HRW
Human Rights Watch says foreign-backed militant groups in Syria are committing war crimes by endangering the lives of civilians, including women and detained soldiers.
The rights organization said the terrorists place prisoners in metal cages throughout Eastern Ghouta region near the capital Damascus.
HRW's statement came after a video emerged on November 1 showing vehicles transporting iron cages that each contained between four and eight prisoners.
The use of arrested soldiers and civilians in this way puts them at grave risk of harm, HRW said, describing the incident as “hostage-taking and an outrage against their personal dignity, which are both war crimes.”
The practice is allegedly aimed at deterring government bombardments against the militants.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has held a militant group calling itself Jaysh al-Islam responsible for the action. Back in 2013, terrorist groups abducted hundreds of civilians during clashes with government forces in the nearby Adra al-Ummaliyah.
The hostages are believed to be held in unidentified locations in Eastern Ghouta and activists are worried that they are among those in these cages.
The act of hostage-taking in armed conflicts amounts to war crime under international law.
Outrages on personal dignity are also banned by international humanitarian law. They are defined as actions that humiliate, disgrace, or otherwise violate the dignity of a person to such a degree “as to be generally recognized as an outrage upon personal dignity.”
“Human shielding” is also barred by international law. It is the act of using civilians or other protected people, such as detained fighters, to immunize certain points, areas, or military forces from military offensives.
The conflict in Syria has killed over 250,000 since March 2011, according to the UN. More than 12 million people, including over 5.6 million children, also remain in need of humanitarian assistance.
The foreign-sponsored militancy has displaced 7.6 million Syrians.
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