Saturday, October 19, 2019

As Trump Downplays Attack on Kurds, Amnesty Details Turkish War Crimes and 'Utterly Callous Disregard for Civilian Life'






Can we charge Trump with facilitating war crimes?

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"Killing defenseless people in cold blood is utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime," said Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo



"Killing defenseless people in cold blood is utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime," said Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo


Just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed 

Turkey's assault on Kurds in Syria by likening it to a parking lot 

squabble, Amnesty International on Friday presented damning 

evidence that Turkish forces and their allies have committed 

war crimes and displayed a "shameful disregard for civilian life" 

in northeastern Syria.


Based on video footage, medical records, and witness testimony 

from journalists and aid workers, Amnesty's new report details 

numerous appalling instances of Turkish forces and their Syrian

rebel allies indiscriminately bombarding residential areas, 

abducting civilians, and committing murder in cold blood.



"In one of the most horrific attacks documented," Amnesty said, 

"a Kurdish Red Crescent worker described how he pulled bodies 

from the wreckage of a Turkish airstrike on 12 October at around 

7 am, in which two munitions landed near to a school in Salhiye, 

where civilians displaced by the fighting had sought shelter."


The aid worker told Amnesty that four people, including two children, 

were killed in the Turkish strike.


"I couldn't tell if they were boys or girls because their corpses 

were black. They looked like charcoal," he said. "The other two 

people killed were older men, they looked older than 50. 

Honestly, I am still in shock."


The report also highlights the case of Hevrin Khalaf, a Kurdish 

female politician and Secretary General of the Future Syria 

political party who was "dragged out of her car, beaten, and 

shot dead" on October 12 by fighters with Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a 

Syrian rebel group allied with Turkey.


"A medical report seen by Amnesty International lists a series 

of injuries inflicted on Hevrin Khalaf," the group said, "including 

multiple gunshot wounds to the head, face, and back as well as 

fractures to her legs, face and skull, detachment of skin from her 

skull, and loss of hair as a result of being dragged by the hair."


Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of Amnesty International, said 

in a statement that "killing defenseless people in cold blood is 

utterly reprehensible and a blatant war crime."


"The Turkish military offensive into northeast Syria has wreaked 

havoc on the lives of Syrian civilians who once again have been 

forced to flee their homes and are living in constant fear of 

indiscriminate bombardment, abductions, and summary 

killings," said Naidoo. "Turkish military forces and their allies 

have displayed an utterly callous disregard for civilian lives."


In addition to demanding that Turkey halt its attacks on 

northeastern Syria, Amnesty urged nations that export 

arms to the country to immediately suspend any weapons 

transfers

.
"The USA is the largest exporter of weapons to Turkey," 

Amnesty noted. "Other suppliers include Italy, Germany, 

Brazil, and India."


Amnesty's report comes after Trump—who paved the way 

for the Turkish military operation by abruptly withdrawing 

U.S. forces from northeastern Syria—made light of the 

humanitarian catastrophe in the region by comparing it 

to a parking lot scrap between "two kids."


"Sometimes you have to let 'em fight," Trump said 

during a campaign rally in Dallas, Texas. 

"Like two kids in a lot, you gotta let 'em fight, then you 

pull 'em apart."


Observers expressed horror at Trump's remarks.


"The president is talking about genocidal slaughter 

and hundreds of thousands of war victims like it's a 

playground squabble," said S.V. Dáte, White House 

correspondent for HuffPost.
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