The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

U.N. Query on Syria Hospital Bombings May Be Undermined by Russia Pressure, Limited Scope

The United Nations is investigating attacks on seven humanitarian sites in Syria. Diplomats say Russia is trying to keep the U.N. findings secret.

 

We Proved Russian Pilots Bombed a Hospital. Then They Did It Again.

Four weeks ago, The Times provided visual evidence showing that the Russian Air Force bombed a Syrian hospital. Last Wednesday, Russia did it again.

[explosion] On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Russian pilots bombed this underground hospital in Kafr Nabl, Syria, putting it out of service. It’s the second time the Russian Air Force bombed it this year. In May, Russian jets dropped four precision bombs on the very same facility, a previous Times investigation found. Kafr Nabl Surgical is a well-known hospital and in fact, the United Nations is investigating an earlier attack on it. Intentionally bombing health facilities is a war crime. But that doesn’t seem to have deterred Russia. We know its air force is responsible because we obtained radio messages recorded between Russian pilots and their ground control in Syria. We deciphered their code words, including the phrase to confirm an attack was launched, “Srabotal,” meaning “worked it.” We compared these audio recordings on Nov. 6 to video evidence of the attack, the same way we investigated the May attack. The evidence is clear. A security camera system inside the hospital filmed three strikes: at 4:19, 4:25 and 4:31 p.m. The radio system recorded Russian pilot 31 launching an attack at 4:21, 4:27 and 4:33 p.m. Why is there a slight discrepancy in these times? We confirmed the hospital cameras are three minutes behind, and look at the intervals between each strike: They match up almost to the second, one pilot confirming three attacks at the exact interval of strikes on the hospital. We also examined flight observations for Nov. 6 logged by a network of spotters in Syria, who track planes and listen into radio recordings. They witnessed only Russian jets circling Kafr Nabl at the time of the attacks at 4:23 and 4:29 p.m. Russia had to know this location was a hospital. Remember, a previous Times investigation showed that Russia had attacked it on May 5. The Defense Ministry spokesman acknowledged and responded to that story. The Russian ambassador to the United Nations was shown a copy of that investigation at a U.N. Security Council meeting. And the hospital’s location is on a no-strike list provided to Russia by the U.N. But this latest attack shows that Russia can continue to bomb health facilities in Syria with impunity.

Four weeks ago, The Times provided visual evidence showing that the Russian Air Force bombed a Syrian hospital. Last Wednesday, Russia did it again.CreditCredit…Hand in Hand for Aid and Development

By Whitney Hurst and 

The aerial bombings of hospitals in rebel areas of Syria have long stood out as possible war crimes, so brazen that the leader of the United Nations ordered a special inquiry three months ago, raising hope of some accountability.

But with evidence accumulating that the Syrian government’s Russian allies are responsible for some of those bombings, the opposite appears to be happening.

The scope of the inquiry has so far been limited to just seven sites among the many targeted, according to an internal United Nations document seen by The New York Times.

At the same time, diplomats say Russia has been pressing the global organization’s leader, Secretary General António Guterres, not to release the conclusions of even this narrow inquiry.

And in what appears to be a new sign of impunity, one of the targets on the inquiry’s list, Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital — an underground facility that Russian pilots bombed at least once before, according to a New York Times investigation — appears to have been bombed by the Russians again on Nov. 6.

[Read how we investigated Russia’s previous bombing of Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital.]

The incidents under investigation include a possible bombing of Kafr Nabl in July, but not the attacks on Kafr Nabl and three other hospitals on May 5-6, which the Times investigation concluded had been carried out by Russia. All four hospitals also were on a list of sites that should not be attacked, known as a deconfliction list, sent by the United Nations to countries fighting in Syria, including Russia.

The Times used witness accounts and videos, time-coded cockpit recordings of Russian pilots, plane spotter logs and security camera footage from Kafr Nabl to trace the follow-up attack on Nov. 6 to Russia. The times that one pilot confirms strikes in the cockpit recordings match the times the hospital was hit.

Kafr Nabl, in northwest Syria’s Idlib province, was hit by three airstrikes and rendered temporarily out of service in the latest attack. No one was killed or wounded, according to a doctor there.

ImageThe entrance of the Kafr Nabl hospital after it was bombed in July.
Credit…Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A spokesman for Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s United Nations ambassador, did not respond to the Times’s request for comment about accusations that Russia had sought to pressure Mr. Guterres to keep the inquiry confidential. The spokesman instead pointed to public comments made by Mr. Nebenzia on Sept. 16 when he objected to what he described as disinformation about the Syrian and Russian military campaign. Mr. Nebenzia also said the inquiry should examine the United Nations deconfliction list, suggesting it was flawed.

“Nobody denies that there are also civilians in Idlib, and that they live in dire conditions, some of them going through second or even third round of relocation. However, there is no other way to resolve their suffering, but to liberate this area from jihadists, who simply hold those civilians as a shield to protect their own positions,” Mr. Nebenzia said.

Russia is the most important ally of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and is largely responsible for helping his forces as they move to destroy the last vestiges of a Western-backed rebellion that had once threatened to topple him at the height of the war, now in its ninth year.

Since the end of April, Syria and Russia have been concentrating their firepower on northwest Syria, the remaining chunk of rebel-held territory.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last Friday that at least 61 medical facilities in that area had been hit so far. He expressed alarm that “health facilities continue to be directly hit or significantly damaged” even as the United Nations panel is investigating.

Mr. Guterres established a board of inquiry on Aug. 1 after 10 members of the Security Council, including the United States, expressed alarm at the attacks on hospitals. Diplomats say Mr. Guterres was initially reluctant but relented, and is now facing pressure from Russia to keep the inquiry’s findings a secret.

Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Mr. Guterres, said the United Nations is still considering how to handle the inquiry’s findings, when asked if the conclusions would be made public.

It would not be the first time that the Russians have sought to suppress or at least discredit any international finding that impugns the war conduct of the Kremlin or its Syrian ally. Two years ago, for example, Russia blocked Western attempts to extend the life of a United Nations-backed panel investigating chemical weapons attacks in Syria, after it had found the Syrian government responsible for a lethal aerial assault in the village of Khan Sheikhoun, which would be a war crime. The Russians called the panel’s research methods shoddy and had earlier warned its leader that the conclusion was unacceptable.

Image

Damage this month from shelling and airstrikes by pro-government forces on the town of Kafr Nabl, Syria.
Credit…Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Hospitals, clinics, doctors and other medical workers have long been considered exempt from attack in the rules of war, regardless of who they are treating. Provisions of the Geneva Conventions specify that the wounded and sick shall be cared for and respected. While such principles have been violated in many conflicts, human rights advocates say the transgressions in Syria have been especially egregious.

Any effort by Russia to suppress the hospital bombing inquiry, if successful, would extend the Kremlin’s record of blocking or impeding action at the United Nations that the Russians deem harmful to Mr. al-Assad’s side.

Russia has vetoed 13 Security Council resolutions calling for action on Syria. In September, Russia blocked a demand for a cease-fire in the northwest of the country, the same area the Russian Air Force is currently bombing.

Russia Bombed Four Syrian Hospitals. We Have Proof.

The Times obtained thousands of air force recordings, which reveal for the first time that Russia repeatedly bombed hospitals in Syria.

This is Russian radio traffic … … to an air force pilot on a bombing mission over Syria. But these coordinates aren’t for a military target. They point to this underground hospital. Moments later, the pilot bombs it. Nabad al Hayat is one of more than 50 health care facilities bombed in Syria since April, as president Bashar al-Assad seeks to retake the last pocket of opposition with a ferocious onslaught of air power. Observers have long suspected that Russia bombs hospitals. But no one has been able to prove it — until now. The Times has assembled a large body of evidence from multiple sources that directly implicates Russia in four hospital attacks in just 12 hours: one day that’s a microcosm of how health care has been crippled in parts of Syria. We collected four main types of evidence: First, flight logs. For years, a network of plane spotters has tracked air force activity over Syria to warn civilians of incoming attacks. They record sightings of fighter jets and listen in on open radio communications between pilots and air traffic controllers. We received months of those flight logs, which tell us where and when the Russian air force was flying. Second, we obtained thousands of recordings of those radio transmissions as Russian pilots operate in the skies above northwest Syria. We spent weeks translating and deciphering their code words to understand how they carry out airstrikes: A pilot receives coordinates for a target. He confirms the target is locked. The pilot calculates the minute he will strike. The dispatcher gives the green light. And the pilot reports back, saying, “Srabotal” — “I worked it.” This gives us the clearest picture yet of how and when Russia bombed targets. Third, we analyzed hours of videos of these strikes, which gave us clues about the type of weapons used. We reviewed that footage with experts on the Russian air force. And fourth, we established the time these attacks happened by interviewing medics, obtaining incident reports and examining social media postings. The times of the attacks matched up with sightings of Russian planes and recordings of pilots carrying out strikes. Our detailed findings show how Russia repeatedly violated one of the oldest laws of war. We’ll walk through those attacks on May 5 to show how the evidence stacks up. Let’s start with Nabad al Hayat, where local journalists were warned it could be bombed and filmed the attack. First, the strike time. An incident report said it was hit around 2:40 p.m. Second, flight logs: Spotters in the area reported a Russian jet flying overhead just minutes before the attack. Third, radio recordings: The Russian pilot and air traffic controller are heard preparing the attack minutes before 2:40 p.m. Those coordinates point directly at the underground hospital, and at 2:40, the pilot confirms the strike. Fourth, analysis of the strike itself: Three projectiles fall in quick succession and very precisely, within around 100 feet of each other. They also appear to explode after a slight delay once they penetrate the ground. Military experts told us these are the hallmarks of a precision strike, something the Syrian air force is not currently capable of, only the Russians. Luckily, the hospital was empty, because days before, staff had received warnings from plane spotters of possible attacks. It had in the past treated hundreds of patients every month, but it remains out of service today. Around three miles away, Doctors in Kafr Nabl were treating patients that afternoon when this single hospital was hit four times in 18 minutes. We spoke to one of its doctors. Again, the evidence from 5:30 p.m. points to Russia. Spotters reported both Russian and Syrian jets flying overhead. Next, radio messages record a Russian pilot making four strikes at that very time. At 5:30 p.m., the pilot says: At 5:35 p.m.: 5:40 p.m.: And 5:48 p.m.: Four strikes in all, each around five minutes apart, at the exact time witnesses reported the attack. And last, the weapon: Three precision strikes hit the hospital’s entrance. Experts told us it’s highly unlikely Syrian jets could do this. Because the hospital was dug deep underground, only one person was killed in the attack — though many were injured. The bombing didn’t stop there. Kafr Zita Cave Hospital was hit at 3:15 p.m. The hospital director reported it in a WhatsApp message to a colleague that day. Again, flight logs record a Russian jet near Kafr Zita around that time, and at 3:15, a Russian pilot confirms a strike. That night, Al Amal Orthopedic Hospital was hit. Again, only Russian jets were recorded flying in the area, and a Russian pilot confirms the strike around 2 a.m. Health care facilities have been attacked more than 600 times in the course of Syria’s war. It’s a deliberate strategy to make civilian life unbearable in opposition strongholds. In response to The Times, Russian officials denied responsibility and said they carry out precision strikes only on what they call “accurately researched targets.” But these hospitals were on a no-strike list that Russia received from the United Nations. And The Times confirmed with medical groups that they were operational on the day of the attacks. Russia and Syria should have known they were off limits. By law, it’s their responsibility to avoid hitting them. But this evidence paints a damning portrait of a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council committing gross violations in just one day of Russia’s four-year air campaign in Syria. Hey, this is Malachy, and I lead the team who worked on this video. We spent thousands of hours putting this investigation together, and we knew we had important new details to share when we got audio recordings of a Russian pilot receiving the coordinates for a hospital and then bombing it. The source of the audio asked to remain anonymous for their safety. But the evidence they provided was irrefutable. We do this work to find the truth and hold people in power to account. Thank you for watching.

Russia Bombed Four Syrian Hospitals. We Have Proof.
The Times obtained thousands of air force recordings, which reveal for the first time that Russia repeatedly bombed hospitals in SyriaMacro Media Center

Rights groups have expressed hope that the United Nations investigation of the hospital bombings would at least provide unassailable information that would point to who had carried them out. But some expressed dismay that the inquiry is so limited.

Susannah Sirkin, director of policy at Physicians for Human Rights, an advocacy group that monitors attacks on medical facilities, said her organization was “gravely concerned that the Secretary-General’s initiative may lack the depth or breadth to effectively answer why civilian facilities were bombed, who was responsible, and how to prevent such attacks in the future.”

Others are pressing Mr. Guterres to ignore any attempts to suppress the findings.

“The victims, their families, and the world at large have a right to know the facts,” said Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations director at Human Rights Watch. “Keeping silent will only embolden those responsible for war crimes in Syria.”

Diplomats say they expect the inquiry’s final report to be finished by the end of the year.

Reporting was contributed by Christiaan Triebert, Evan Hill, Dmitriy Khavin, Malachy Browne, Alexandra Koroleva and Abeer Pamuk.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views and editorial stance of the SOHR.

Source: U.N. Query on Syria Hospital Bombings May Be Undermined by Russia Pressure, Limited Scope – The New York Times