"Targeting hospitals is a war crime"

The Health Council in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods condemned the Turkish occupation's targeting of Tal Refaat Hospital, and affirmed that targeting hospitals and medical units in accordance with international law is a war crime, and the perpetrators must be held accountable.

19 June, 2023 13:34

ALEPPO

The Turkish occupation army continues to launch brutal attacks on North and East Syria, targeting civilians directly.

On June 16, the hospital in Tal Rifaat district in al-Shahba canton was targeted by the occupation, which resulted in the injury of 4 civilians.

The Health Council in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city condemned the Turkish attacks, during a statement read in front of the Martyr Khaled Fajr Hospital, with the participation of dozens of workers in the health sector, by the head nurse in the hospital, Ceger Xwîn Mihemed.

The statement stated: "More than five years ago, after the occupation of Afrin and the displacement of its indigenous people in 2018, the crimes of the Turkish occupation against the remaining indigenous people continue, and there was no felony or heinous crime that was committed there with the aim of completing the emptying of the region of its population, and at the same time the settlement blocs’ construction processes continue to stabilize the applicants and make demographic change a reality that cannot be removed.”

The statement added: "It is unfortunate that the crimes of the Turkish occupation did not stop, as it continued to pursue the displaced from Afrin in the geography of displacement that was imposed on them, as the artillery shelling and targeting of UAVs continued, and the constant threat of ground aggression to end the conditions of normal life in the geography of displacement with the aim of re-uprooting them once again towards the unknown and killing them." any goal or hope for them to return to their country of origin.”

The crimes are taking place amid international silence

The statement indicated that everything that happened and is still happening is in light of suspicious international silence, and as a result, the aforementioned continuous attacks during the past five years have killed dozens of defenseless civilians, including children, women and the elderly, with the accompanying demolition of many homes and service infrastructure.

The statement stressed that recently, immediately after the end of the Turkish elections, the pace of bombing and targeting operations increased significantly, and despite that, the targeting of Tal Rifaat Hospital was the most dangerous and barbaric aggression, because the aforementioned aggression affected structures and institutions that all international laws and institutions are keen to protect, especially. by virtue of its function.

war crime

The statement clarified the clarity of international laws, which consider attacks deliberately directed against hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are treated, as well as attacks deliberately directed against all bearers of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in accordance with international law, such as buildings, materials, medical units, means of transportation, and individuals, which are war crimes under international law.

The statement stressed that Tal Rifaat Civil Hospital was and still is providing medical and humanitarian services to civilians. The statement noted that the targeting resulted in the injury of four civilians and the working medical staff, two of them seriously, "in addition to the accompanying massive material damage to the hospital's infrastructure, including the out of service of its ambulance."

The values and ideals for which organizations were established must be defended

The medical staff in the health sector in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods appealed to all institutions concerned with humanitarian affairs, led by the International Red Cross, as well as the concerned human rights bodies to break their silence and take what is dictated by their humanitarian duty in defending the values and ideals for which their organizations were established.

The medical staff also expressed regret and astonishment at Russia's silence, as a guarantor and influential state, regarding these violations and crimes.

The statement concluded with slogans, "No to the Turkish occupation and its crimes. Long live the resistance of Afrin and al-Shahba. Glory and eternity to the martyrs and speedy recovery to the wounded."

T/ Satt.

ANHA