Russian human rights defenders release a report on human rights violations in Syria

The actions of the Russian troops in Syria result in bombing victims and human rights violations. After resettlement to Russia, Syrian Circassians face financial and social problems, the human rights defenders note in a joint report.

A group of Russian human rights organizations released the report on human rights problems and violations of humanitarian norms in Syria over the past 10 years of the conflict, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* reported on its website on March 31.

"The purpose of the report is to get Russian users to know about the Russia’s role in the war in Syria as one of the warring parties," Oleg Orlov, a member of the Council of the HRC “Memorial”*, the head of the “Hot Spots” programme, said during the presentation of the report.

Most of the respondents to whom authors of the report spoke, noted that they perceived Russia not as a saviour, but as a destructive external force, which military and political intervention had kept the violator of military laws as the head of their country. Russia is also perceived as a party directly responsible for gross violations of the international humanitarian law, the report emphasizes.

The speakers also pointed out that after the start of the civil war, about 3000 Syrian refugees entered the republics of the Russian Northern Caucasus. At the same time, about 300-400 of them had to leave for other countries (mainly Turkey and Germany) after they had faced the impossibility of obtaining a legal migration status or realized their inability to withstand the conditions of residence and placement in Russia.

The human rights defenders’ report also mentions the state programme “Providing assistance to voluntary resettlement to the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of compatriots living abroad”, which has been operating in the republic since July 31, 2019. The authors of the report point out that the programme does not cause much optimism among the Circassians, since it is designed for only 50 compatriots and 150 members of their families.

* The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the “Register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent”.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 2, 2021 at 12:19 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.