U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on Monday chronicled acts of “Russian terror” in Syria, escalating U.S. condemnation of President Vladimir Putin’s government by taking aim at his claim that the Russians are fighting jihadists in the country.
“Attacks on civilians fuel terrorism; they don’t defeat terrorism,” Power said Monday during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. “The perpetrators must also know that, like their ignominious predecessors through history, they will face judgment for their crimes.”
Putin intervened in Syria for the ostensible purpose of destroying the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but American officials quickly accused the Russians of bombing U.S.-backed rebel groups in order to prop up incumbent Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Secretary of State John Kerry tried to broker a cease-fire agreement that would allow the U.S. and Russia to coordinate attacks on the Islamic State — a significant policy concession in light of President Obama’s attempt to isolate Putin internationally following his invasion of Ukraine — but the deal broke down as pro-regime forces attacked a United Nations convoy.
Those attacks have escalated, resulting in the destruction of all hospitals in the area over the last week, prompting Power to hit Russia with the terrorist label.
“I will focus on just two features of regime and Russian terror,” she said Monday. “First, the Assad regime and Russia must stop the campaign of attacks that has destroyed countless schools, hospitals, homes and other civilian infrastructure … Second, the Assad regime must end the suffering and torture in detention centers throughout Syria.
“The regime continues to imprison tens of thousands of Syrians — including women, children, doctors, humanitarian workers, human rights defenders and journalists — subjecting many to torture, sexual violence and inhumane conditions.”
Power came armed with anecdotes of each action, such as the report of a bombed kindergarten and accounts of Syrian journalists being tortured by military officials who beat him and burned him with cigarettes.
“We know where torture has taken place and where it continues to take place,” Power said. “And to the commanding officers and prison officials who work at these facilities, know too that the international community is watching, and that you, too, will one day be held accountable.”
Power named several Syrian officials, but stopped short of implicating individual Russians of engaging in war crimes. But the U.S. government has argued that Russia is responsible for Syrian government actions, given Assad’s dependence on Putin.
“Russia and the regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals, medical facilities, children and women,” Kerry said last month. “These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes and those that commit these would and should be held accountable for these actions.
