UN rights boss: Aleppo siege and airstrikes are war crimes

The United Nations’ top human rights official said today that the siege and bombing of eastern Aleppo in Syria constituted “crimes of historic proportions” that have caused heavy civilian casualties amounting to war crimes.

The UN Human Rights Council later voted to launch an independent inquiry into events in Aleppo to identify and hold accountable anyone responsible for alleged violations.

Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein did not specifically name Russia, whose war planes have carried out weeks of airstrikes on the opposition-held part of Aleppo along with the Syrian air force, but his reference was clear.

“Armed opposition groups continue to fire mortars and other projectiles into civilian neighbourhoods of western Aleppo, but indiscriminate airstrikes across the eastern part of the city by government forces and their allies are responsible for the overwhelming majority of civilian casualties,” Al-Hussein said in a speech to a special session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Such violations constituted war crimes and if there was intent to commit them as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, they would amount to crimes against humanity, he said.

He called for major powers to put aside their differences and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

“The violations and abuses suffered by people across the country, including the siege and bombardment of eastern Aleppo, are simply not tragedies; they also constitute crimes of historic proportions,” he told the Geneva session by video link.

Russia has denied any deliberate targeting of civilians and says it is combating terrorists. It had proposed amendments to Britain’s resolution but they were voted down.