Ongoing chemical weapons attacks and bombing of civilians by the Syrian Air Force: A call for action Introduction After four years of war in Syria, with untold numbers of people killed and millions driven to flee, Assad remains the greatest mortal threat to Syrian civilians. The Syrian Air Force continues to attack civilians with chemical weapons, barrel bombs, and other weapons. As many as 96% of those killed by Syrian Air Force barrel bomb attacks are civilians(1). The Syrian crisis requires a humanitarian response, one that above all else responds to the need for civilian protection. Any response that fails in that regard will also fail by any other worthwhile measure. This document sets out how to achieve the greatest possible level of civilian protection in Syria with limited means, limited cost, and limited risk. It also aims to demonstrate that the need for urgent action has only grown since the House of Commons vote of August 2013. The ongoing attacks on civilians by the Syrian Air Force violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions. In the absence of further steps by the UN Security Council as a whole, and with permanent member Russia both arming Syria’s air force and also blocking collective action, individual states enjoying the privilege of permanent membership of the Security Council must take responsibility: specifically France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These three states, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have a proven ability that could stop Syrian Air Force attacks almost immediately. Whether individually or collectively, they must act to stop this slaughter.

Action We call on the UK government to demand an immediate end to attacks on civilians by the Syrian Air Force; attacks which violate international humanitarian law, and which violate United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2118, 2139, and 2209. Should the Syrian Air Force not end these attacks immediately, we call on the UK government to respond to any further attacks with limited targeted strikes against Syrian Air Force bases as an emergency humanitarian measure to protect civilians.

Syria Solidarity Movement UK • www.syriauk.org • [email protected] • @SyriaUK

History of attacks The Syrian Air Force have been carrying out air attacks against civilians since 2012 using both jets(2) and helicopters dropping barrel bombs(3). The rate of attacks escalated drastically in late 2013(4) following the September 2013 chemical weapons deal with Assad and the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2118(5). UN Security Council Resolution 2118 was meant to put an end to chemical attacks, not conventional bombing; however since then the Syrian Air Force has been carrying out attacks with improvised chlorine bombs. Chlorine is a dual-use chemical essential for water purification and not a banned substance for stockpiling under the Chemical Weapons Convention; however its use as a weapon is banned under both the Chemical Weapons Convention and the earlier Geneva Protocol, both of which Syria is a party to. Chlorine was first used as a chemical weapon at Ypres a century ago(6). In February 2014 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2139(7), which amongst other measures demanded “that all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs…” UNSCR 2139 closed with the Security Council expressing “its intent to take further steps in the case of non-compliance,” but since then no action has been taken to stop the air attacks. The Syrian Network for Human Rights(1), in a report cited by Human Rights Watch(8), has recorded more people killed by barrel bomb attacks since Resolution 2139 than before it. 96% of those killed by barrel bombs have been civilians according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. On 6 March this year, UN Security Council Resolution 2209(9) reiterated that chlorine weapons were already illegal under the earlier Resolution 2118, and threatened further measures in the event of further attacks. Since then 35 new chorine attacks by the Syrian Air Force have been reported(10). Imminent threat of greater violence The fear now is that continued inaction in the face of chlorine attacks will be taken as a green light for a more deadly attack similar to the August 2013 Sarin massacre. Syria Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue organisation that has received support from the Foreign Office, and from other governments including Denmark, Norway, and the US, warned recently that the escalating numbers of chlorinee attacks suggested worse was to come(11). Majd Khalaf from Syria Civil Defence said: “The last time we saw this sustained use of chemical agents was in the lead up to the attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 when 1,429 were killed. We can’t risk that happening again. Just a few weeks ago the UN banned the use of chlorine and promised to take action of it was violated. With every attack that goes unchecked their red line is being turned into a green light for mass slaughter. We need a no fly zone now.” Following publication of evidence that the Assad regime may have retained chemical weapons more deadly than chlorine, the warning of growing danger has been reiterated by UK chemical weapons specialist Hamish de Bretton-Gordon(12). He writes: “The last time Assad was this hard pressed by the Opposition was August 2013 in Damascus. He had fought the Rebels for 18 months conventionally, and appeared to be on the point of falling, as now. In response Assad unleashed 1000KGs of deadly Sarin gas which killed up to 1500 people, mainly women and children in a couple of hours on 21 August 13. This stopped the Rebels in their tracks and created paralysis among the International Community—paralysis which has pretty much lasted to today. Now that Assad appears to have the

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very much more deadly VX in his arsenal, there is little doubt in my mind that he will use this horrendous weapon as he looks defeat in the eyes.” Legality of action to end air attacks on civilians The Syrian Air Force is clearly, deliberately, continuously violating international law. But would a targeted military action to disable Assad’s air force also violate international law? Not according to the UK government’s established position: Under certain circumstances the UK Government regards humanitarian intervention as legal even without a UN Security Council resolution. Those circumstances were defined in a Foreign and Commonwealth Office note circulated to NATO allies in October 1998(13) prior to the Kosovo intervention, as follows: Security Council authorisation to use force for humanitarian purposes is now widely accepted (Bosnia and Somalia provided firm legal precedents). A UNSCR would give a clear legal base for NATO action, as well as being politically desirable. But force can also be justified on the grounds of overwhelming humanitarian necessity without a UNSCR. The following criteria would need to be applied: (a) that there is convincing evidence, generally accepted by the international community as a whole, of extreme humanitarian distress on a large scale, requiring immediate and urgent relief; (b) that it is objectively clear that there is no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved; (c) that the proposed use of force is necessary and proportionate to the aim (the relief of humanitarian need) and is strictly limited in time and scope to this aim—ie it is the minimum necessary to achieve that end. It would also be necessary at the appropriate stages to assess the targets against this criterion. These three criteria were reiterated in UK government legal advice in August 2013(14), and in evidence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in January 2014(15). Feasibility of UK action Limited targeted strikes against carefully selected Syrian Air Force bases can be carried out by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from beyond the range of any remaining Syrian air defences using stand-off weapons such as Storm Shadow air launched missiles and Tomahawk sea launched cruise missiles, minimising risk both to UK personnel and to civilians within Syria. The UK has the military capability to stop Syrian Air Force attacks: the remaining question is one of political will. Cost of inaction Since 2011, the number of civilians violently killed in Syria has been greater than the number of British civilians killed in the Second World War. The vast majority of civilians killed have been victims of the Assad regime: Over 95% according to Violations Documentation Center in Syria figures(16). The proportion killed by air attacks has risen drastically in the last year and a half: Two out of every five civilians killed in 2014 were killed by air attacks(17), and over half of women and of children killed

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in Syria in 2014 were killed by Syrian Air Force attacks, again according to Violations Documentation Center in Syria figures(18). So far in 2015 that share has risen further. Since the House of Commons rejected action in August 2013, over 29,000 civilians have been violently killed in Syria, according to Violations Documentation Center in Syria figures. Comparison with UN statistics suggest this may be an undercount by several thousand, and that the true number of civilians killed in Syria since the House of Commons vote may well be over 50,000 civilians(19). Syrian Air Force Attacks on civilian areas can only be intended to terrorise and displace the population. Since the House of Commons rejected action, the number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries has more than doubled, from 1.83 million to 3.97 million refugees now registered with UNHCR(20). These bare numbers cannot begin to give a sense of the damage done to grievously injured survivors, to bereaved friends and families, to fractured neighbourhoods, to an entire society terrorised by its own government. Understanding that requires of us some degree of imagination, empathy, and compassion. Whose side are we on? The war in Syria can seem impenetrably complex, with a bewildering array of groups and shifting alliances. Some have tried to portray it as a simple choice between ISIS and Assad, a distortion that ignores the fact that the Assad regime has helped fund ISIS(21), has avoided confronting ISIS(22), has aided ISIS on the battlefield against Syrian opposition forces(23), and has a long history of supporting the predecessor of ISIS, namely Al Qaeda in Iraq(24). Are there only two choices left then: to try and pick winners amongst the opposition forces fighting both Assad and ISIS, or to stay out entirely? No, there is a further choice: to support Syria’s civilians. To protect civilian lives where possible. To do what we can to allow space for civil society and civilian rule in areas beyond regime control. As well as Syria Civil Defence(25), amongst those in Syria calling for urgent action are the doctors of the Medics Under Fire campaign(26). Also calling for action are a coalition of non-violent Syrian civil society activists under the Planet Syria campaign(27). These are the people needed to help build a future Syria at peace with itself and its neighbours. They see ending air attacks as an essential step to peace. Work by FREE Syria on a Syria Feedom Charter involving face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 people has demonstrated a strong desire for a democratic non-sectarian future amongst Syrian civilians(28). Standing by Syria’s civilians is not just the humanitarian thing to do, not just the morally right course; it is the best path to a stable political outcome. With the regime responsible for the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths, it is impossible to regard it as the lesser evil. These civil society activists give the lie to the idea that the only alternative is ISIS. Syrians need peace to choose their own future, and that requires an end to barrel bombing. Reiteration Please join our call for the UK government to demand an immediate end to attacks on civilians by the Syrian Air Force; attacks which violate international humanitarian law, and which violate United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2118, 2139, and 2209. Should the Syrian Air Force not end these attacks immediately we call on the UK government to respond to any further attacks with limited targeted strikes against Syrian Air Force bases as an emergency humanitarian measure to protect civilians. Syria Solidarity Movement UK • www.syriauk.org • [email protected] • @SyriaUK

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Notes (1) Government Forces’ Use of Barrel Bombs a Year After Security Council Resolution 2139, Syrian Network For Human Rights report, 24 February 2015 – http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/Barrel_ Bombs_2015_en.pdf (2) Kim Sengupta: Syrian anger will echo down through the generations, The Independent, 3 August 2012 – http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/kim-sengupta-syrian-anger-will-echo-down-throughthe-generations-8002302.html (3) The Mystery Of The Syrian Barrel Bombs, Eliot Higgins, Brown Moses Blog, 30 August 2012 – http:// brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-mystery-of-syrian-barrel-bombs.html (4) Syrian regime’s barrel bomb assault on Aleppo kills hundreds, Richard Spencer, The Telegraph, 24 December 2013 – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10536082/Syrian-regimesbarrel-bomb-assault-on-Aleppo-kills-hundreds.html (5) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118, 27 September 2013 – http://www.un.org/en/ga/ search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2118(2013) (6) Podcast 13: Gas Attack At Ypres, Kate Clements, Imperial War Museum – http://www.iwm.org.uk/ history/podcasts/voices-of-the-first-world-war/podcast-13-gas-attack-at-ypres (7) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2139, 22 February 2014 – http://www.un.org/ga/search/ view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2139(2014) (8) Syria: New Spate of Barrel Bomb Attacks, Human Rights Watch report, 24 February 2015 – http://www. hrw.org/news/2015/02/24/syria-new-spate-barrel-bomb-attacks (9) Adopting Resolution 2209 (2015), Security Council Condemns Use of Chlorine Gas as Weapon in Syria, 6 March 2015 – http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11810.doc.htm (10) Assad regime accused of 35 chlorine attacks since mid-March, Kareem Shaheen, The Guardian, 24 May 2015 – http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/syria-regime-accused-of-using-chlorine-bombson-civilians (11) Press release: Syrian rescue workers respond to increased rate of chemical attacks in Idlib and warn of large scale attack, Syria Civil Defence, 27 March 2015 – http://syriacivildefense.org/article/press-releasesyrian-rescue-workers-respond-increased-rate-chemical-attacks-idlib-and-warn (12) Will Assad’s Last Throw of the Dice Be Chemical Genocide?, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, 20 May 2015 – http://2paragraphs.com/2015/05/will-assads-last-throw-of-the-dice-be-chemical-genocide/ (13) Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence, Uncorrected Excerpts of Remarks Delivered at a Conference Organised by Ashurst Morris Crisp at the International Institute of Strategic Studies on 18 November 2003 – http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmfaff/441/4060809.htm (14) Chemical weapon use by Syrian regime: UK government legal position, Prime Minister’s Office, 29 August 2013 – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chemical-weapon-use-by-syrian-regime-ukgovernment-legal-position/chemical-weapon-use-by-syrian-regime-uk-government-legal-position-htmlversion

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(15) Written evidence from the Rt Hon Hugh Robertson MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Foreign Affairs Committee on humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect (USA 19), 14 January 2014 – http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/ cmselect/cmdfence/582/58205.htm (16) The greater evil, NFZSyria.org, 2 February 2015 – http://www.nfzsyria.org/2015/02/the-greater-evil. html (17) Two out of every five civilians killed in 2014 could have been saved by a No-Fly Zone, NFZSyria.org, 27 January 2015 – http://www.nfzsyria.org/2015/01/two-out-of-every-five-civilians-killed.html (18) Air attacks: 2014’s biggest killer of women and children, NFZSyria.org, 16 January 2015 – http://www. nfzsyria.org/2015/01/air-attacks-2014s-biggest-killer-of.html (19) Over 29,000 civilians killed in Syria since British MPs rejected action, NFZSyria.org, 4 May 2015 – http://www.nfzsyria.org/2015/05/over-29000-civilians-killed-in-syria.html (20) UNHCR: Syria Regional Refugee Response – http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php (21) UK welcomes new EU Syria sanctions listings, Foreign & Commonwealth Office press release, 7 March 2015 – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-welcomes-new-eu-syria-sanctions-listings (22) Syria, ISIS Have Been ‘Ignoring’ Each Other on Battlefield, Data Suggests, NBC News, 11 December 2014 – http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/syria-isis-have-been-ignoring-each-other-battlefielddata-suggests-n264551 (23) The Terror Strategist: Secret Files Reveal the Structure of Islamic State, Christoph Reuter, Spiegel Online, 18 April 2015 – http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-ofislamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html (24) Isis: the inside story, Martin Chulov, The Guardian, 11 December 2014 – http://www.theguardian.com/ world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story (25) Syrian Civil Defence call for the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone, The Syria Campaign press release, 17 March 2015 – https://thesyriacampaign.org/chlorine-gas-sarmeen/ (26) Medics Under Fire – https://medicsunderfire.org/en – Supported by the SAMS Foundation – https:// www.sams-usa.net/foundation/ (27) Planet Syria – https://www.planetsyria.org/en (28) Freedom Charter: An Invitation to Dream, FREE-Syria – http://www.free-syria-foundation.org/ freedom-charter.html

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