Syria: Ghouta civilians ‘slaughtered in droves’, UN says

AS MILITARY bombardment continues to hit besieged Eastern Ghouta, UN chief slams Syria and Russia for military action which has left hundreds dead.

Wounded Syrians wait to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital in Kafr Batna in the besieged Eastern Ghouta. Picture: Amer. Almohibany/AFP

CIVILIANS are being slaughtered in droves as the deadly offensive against the Syrian people continues.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein attacked what he called a “monstrous campaign of annihilation” against the besieged population of Eastern Ghouta in Syria.

International humanitarian law was developed precisely to stop this type of situation, where civilians are slaughtered in droves in order to fulfil political or military objectives,” he said in a statement.

Information documented by his office showed at least 346 civilian deaths and 878 injuries, mostly from air strikes on residential areas, since the Syrian government and its allies escalated an offensive against the rebel-held enclave on February 4.

Wounded Syrians wait to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital in Kafr Batna. Picture: Ammar Suleiman/AFP

There were also 15 deaths and 51 injuries reported among civilians in and around Damascus — the result of a dramatic escalation of rebel fire on government areas.

Many of the violations may amount to war crimes, Mr Zeid said.

Women and children, trapped throughout five years of the siege, were now in a state of panic, without food, sanitation, or safe havens after air strikes destroyed their homes, he said.

“How much cruelty will it take before the international community can speak with one voice to say enough dead children, enough wrecked families, enough violence, and take resolute, concerted action to bring this monstrous campaign of annihilation to an end?”

The United Nations has been pleading with the Syrian government for months to arrange the evacuation of hundreds of seriously ill patients among the population of almost 400,000.

Mr Zeid said repeated strikes on medical facilities, which are meant to be protected by international law, meant people with extreme injuries now faced a slow and painful death.

A young Syrian girl wounded during air strikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, cries at a makeshift hospital. Picture: Ghouta Media Center/AP

He reiterated the world body’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and immediate humanitarian access, as well as medical evacuations and the chance for people to leave.

But any political agreement must not include forced displacement of civilians, he said.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian and Iranian allies, have previously used similar siege tactics to drive rebels out of major towns, including Syria’s second city Aleppo.

Such tactics appear to flout international law but Russia, Syria’s ally, has vetoed 11 UN Security Council resolutions criticising its handling of the war.

It comes as UNICEF yesterday released a blank statement on the latest atrocity to rock Syria, revealing it has no more words left to describe the horror taking place across the country.

The statement from the UN children’s agency featured 10 empty lines with quote marks indicating missing text followed with an explanatory footnote.

“UNICEF is issuing this blank statement. We no longer have the words to describe children’s suffering and our outrage,” it said, following a series of bombing campaigns which has left hundreds dead.

Medics treat a child who was wounded during air strikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, at a makeshift hospital in Ghouta. Picture: Ghouta Media Center/AP

— With news.com.au