During a webinar on Thursday, Pro-Justice, a Syrian-American organization, launched the book “Russian Massacres and Violations Against Syrian Civilians. The book documents the crimes of the Russian occupation since the beginning of its intervention to save the Assad regime, and all its war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.
The event was hosted by the American Coalition for Syria (ASC), an umbrella for the Syrian-American advocacy organizations in the United States. Mirna Barq, the ACS Vice-president, coordinated the webinar.
Judge Khaled Shehab al-Din, who is the author of the book, said in an interview with Shaam Network that the launch of the book came at a webinar held on Thursday, during which the work of the organization was explained, and the details of writing the book and the stages it went through until it was completed and released. It was launched as an electronic version on the site “With Justice” and was translated into English. It will be printed later on in Arabic and English, and it is a historical document to prevent the falsification of history and facts.
The judge explained that the book contains an introduction to the Russian invasion since its intervention in Syria began on 30 September 2015, and its war crimes against humanity to date. It consists of 12 chapters and a conclusion, in which the organization tried to summarize a historic phase during which Russians committed hundreds of war crimes and crimes against Syrians.
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The book talks about the illegality of Russian intervention, refuting Russia’s claims about the legality of its intervention by claiming that there are agreements between Syria and the former Soviet Union, and emphasizing that this intervention was carried out in the interest of a person and against the Syrian people, not to defend Syria, and that the agreements mentioned do not protect this intervention, and the book elaborated on it.
The book also included talking about the agreements Putin had with Bashar al-Assad, proving their illegality, and that they could be dissolved because they had not been registered at the United Nations. They had been concluded with a state that did not have full capacity and fails within international standards. The book elaborated on this point.
The book dealt with the targeting of vital facilities in detail, in particular the targeting of medical personnel, ambulances, white helmets, and media cadres, and the targeting of civilians in incendiary and cluster weapons. A special chapter deals with the issue of child recruitment and the issue of theft of Syrian antiquities, in addition to the illegitimacy of their vote in the Security Council in accordance with international laws.
Judge Shehab al-Din explained that the chapters of the book were based on their narrative of international laws, during which they elaborated on those customary laws and the Rome Statute, and separated each chapter with a clear legal introduction.
The book concluded with a conclusion, which confirmed that Russia had committed war crimes against humanity and genocide, and stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable and not to fall into obsolescence, even if Russia had any political path to circumvent those crimes and international laws.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
