Violations Documentation Center in Syria

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

First: Tuesdays Attacks

On Tuesday 25 Nov 2014, Raqqa city witnessed several air strikes launched by two warplanes
of the Syrian regime forces. They systematically, deliberately and indiscriminately targeted the
citys civilian residents, infrastructure, places of worship, in addition to educational, historical
and public places; including places that are usually crowded especially during noon hours when
the residents head toward the markets.. The attacks resulted in carnages, and the fall of more
than (220) martyrs, as well as a hundred injuries, according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent
and a doctor who was at one of the hospitals that received the victims on that day. The Violations Documentation Center (VDC) documented more than (85) victims, using several local
sources, coordination committees and eyewitnesses, which the VDC contacted via Skype, following its own methodology of verification. A list of the names of civilian victims is compiled
and enclosed in this report.
One of the citys media activists, who was an eyewitness to the event, told the VDC that the
first attack, which was launched by a MIG warplane that appeared from the south-west side of
the city, took place at about 11:30 am, when a missile fell near a warehouse of the Consumer
Foundation, known as the Yellow Warehouse because of the color of its faade color, in the
western side of the city. Eyewitness also indicated that the nearest military headquarter of ISIL
was more than 800 m away from the targeted area. This attack resulted in five injuries.
However, the second attack was the fiercest and deadliest , according to the same eyewitness,
who believed that it was carried out by Sukhoi warplane as it was larger than the first one with
wider wings. This attack targeted the entrance to the industrial city, east of Raqqa, near the
traffic lights and opposite the Shrine of Sheikh Owais al-Qarni. First, a missile fell on the area
killing and injuring dozens of people. When civilians present nearby rushed to rescue victims,
another missile hit the area causing a horrific massacre, killing and injuring. over (150) people.. An eyewitness related the great number of victims with the nature of the area itself, which
connects the city to its eastern countryside; a place that is usually crowded and full of cars and
oil barrels.

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

As for the third attack, it targeted al-Henni Mosque at about 12:15 pm. A missile hit the minaret
of the mosque causing its immediate fall. This area had been targeted by two missiles launched
by the Syrian government air forces two weeks before. The attack not only destroyed the minaret but also a part of the mosques roof and caused several injuries.

A Special VDC Image of Henni Mosques Minaret after It was Targeted

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

Although it was away from any military targets, in the fourth attack two missiles hit Muhammad Othmans house near a long-abandoned music institute in Mashlab neighborhood destroying the house and killing six members of the same family (two men and four women).
The Fifth and last attack of the day targeted the public market opposite the National Museum
south of the city, according to an eyewitness. This museum is a historical building dating back
to the Ottoman era. Because of the electricity generators and the several oil shops nearby, the
attack was extremely damaging with more than (51) people killed and over a hundred injured,
according to one of the doctors who witnessed the incident. The witness also stressed to the
VDC that he had inspected several targeted areas and that when he went to the Syrian Arab
Red Crescent branch, he found more than 40 completely burned and charred bodies put in the
buildings yard for families to identify them.

An image of the Targeted National Museum (Source of image: Raqqa News Network)

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

A Satellite Image showing the areas targeted on 25 Nov 2014

Second: Thursdays Attacks

In spite of the numerous international condemnations of the attacks that took place on Tuesday
25 Nov 2014, the government warplanes launched other attacks one day after. On Thursday,
27 Nov 2014, warplanes first launched an attack at about 10:30 am targeting a place near the
Othmans house in al-Mashlab neighborhood causing no casualties as residents had evacuated
the targeted house after Tuesdays attacks. The second attack targeted the house of Judge Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbal, near the Engineering Faculty, causing the deaths of the judges
wife, son Dawood and his wife, in addition to two of the judges grandchildren. Many others
were injured in the attack.. The third attack targeted a girls high school south of the city with
two missiles that fell in the schools yard without causing any casualties. A few minutes later,
two other missiles fell on the southern bank of the Euphrates without causing any casualties
either. The fourth attack targeted an inhabited building in a well-known commercial street in
al-Bayatra neighborhood, in the center of Raqqa. The attack completely destroyed the third and
the fourth floors of the building. Casualties were limited to average injuries as most of the residents had rushed to the shelters when they heard the sounds of the warplanes. In this respect, an
eyewitness stated to the VDC that the attack caused massive destruction and that shrapnel flew
all around which was attributed, according to the witness, to using a special kind of explosive

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

rockets that are rarely used by the regime forces. The witness added:
In Raqqa, we dont have any ambulances currently as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) confiscated them all.. Thus, relief operations are carried out only by the Red Crescent,
which lack medical personnel and supplies. The attacks burned more than 20 cars and destroyed several buildings and shops. The regime concluded the attacks of Thursday by targeting
Dar al-Salam schoolyard to the west of the city. Luckily, no injuries were reported.
All in all, the attacks on the industrial area completely or partially destroyed over 50 houses,
and damaged more than 100 vehicles.. The destruction also included 2 schools, a mosque and
a museum.
Third: Legal Assessment
It is commonly accepted that the acts of the Syrian regime forces against the Syrian civilian
population are to be weighed from the prism of the law governing armed conflicts of non-international character1. Furthermore, relevant rules of international law are fully applicable
to the situation in Syria, in particular international human rights law and the relevant rules of
international humanitarian law. Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions (1949) is
applicable in all Syrian territories and on all actors of the conflict2. In addition all parties to the
conflict are bound by customary rules of international humanitarian law applicable in armed
conflict of non-international character.
The principle according to which parties to the conflict must at all times distinguish between
civilians and combatants is the cornerstone of customary international humanitarian law. Attacks may only be directed against combatants. Attacks must not be directed against civilians3.
This principle is also embedded in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions (1949), and
is thus applicable in non-international armed conflicts.
In addition, parties to all types of armed conflicts are prohibited in international humanitarian
law from targeting civilian objects4. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2675
(XXV), specified that dwellings and other installations that are used only by civilian populations, and places or areas designated for the sole protection of civilians such as hospital zones
1- Syria: ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent maintain aid effort amid increased fighting, Operational Update (July 17, 2012).
2- The Syrian Arab Republic has ratified the four Geneva Conventions on 02.11.1953.
3- ICRC 2005, Customary International Humanitarian Law, vol. 1, Henckaerts, J.-M., Doswald-Beck, L., & Alvermann, C. eds. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, at p. 3 (Rule 1).
4- Id., at p. 25 (Rule 7).
Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays
Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

or similar refuges, should not be the object of military operations5. The ICRC restatement of
customary international humanitarian law cited consistent State practice treating as prima facie
civilian objects in all types of conflicts cities, villages, residential areas, dwellings, buildings
and houses and schools, civilian means of transportation, hospitals, medical establishments and
medical units, historic monuments, places of worship and cultural property6.
The prohibition on targeting civilian populations and objects in armed conflicts affects the way
the parties to an armed conflicts can conduct the hostilities and the types of weapons they can
use. In particular, indiscriminate attacks are prohibited in all types of conflicts.
Rule 12 of the ICRC restatement of customary international humanitarian law provides that:
Indiscriminate attacks are those: (a) which are not directed at a specific military objective; (b)
which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military
objective; or (c) which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be
limited as required by international humanitarian law; and consequently, in each such case, are
of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction7.
The attacks between November 25 and 27, 2014 on the city of Raqqa, as documented in this
statement are in all likelihood executed by the Assad regimes air force planes, as confirmed
by numerous eyewitnesses who recognized at least two types of jets, namely Sokhoi and MiG,
which are known to be owned and used by the Syrian regimes air force. Such attacks, in an
area of operation which is already invested by the international Coalitions military offensive
over northern Syria, can hardly be carried out without the presumed tacit consent of the coalition aerial surveillance resources mobilized in the area. All the targeted areas in all the attacks
are by nature, location and purpose civilian from the perspective of the applicable international
humanitarian law
More specifically, the attack document in this statement targeted civilian dwellings in urban and
residential neighborhood (e.g. attack in the Moushalab neighborhood (25/11/2014, 12:15PM;
27/11/2014, 10:30AM); al-Bayatira neighborhood (27/11/2014, 10:30AM)); attack on the residence of Judge Mohamed Abdelaziz al-Buhbal (27/11/2014, 10:30AM)); schools (attack on
Dar al-Salam preparatory school (27/11/2014, 10:30AM); places of warship (e.g. attack on
Al-Hinni Mosque (25/11/2014, 12:15PM)); as well as densely populated areas, such as the attack on the popular street market facing the National Museum (25/11/2014, 12:15PM). The Na5- Resolution 2675 (XXV). Basic Principles for the Protection of Civilian Populations in Armed Conflicts (December, 9 1970), UN, General Assembly.
6- ICRC 2005, Customary International Humanitarian Law, at p. 34 (footnotes omitted).
7- Id., at p. 40.

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

tional Museum, which sustained damages, is itself a historical monument. This is also the case
in the attack targeting the entrance of the Industrial City on November 25, 2014 (11:30 AM),
which was compounded by a second attack minutes later, by targeting from the air, the scarce
medical units that rushed to the place, together with further gatherings of civilians, resulting in
heavy casualties of civilians. All casualties, from all these attacks, as the Violation Documentation Center was able to document, are civilians.
Such attacks form a pattern of attacking civilian places and populations. The consistency of the
attacks on densely populated areas between November 25 and November 27, 2014 in Raqqa,
makes it more likely that the regime air force was not directing the attack at any specific military objective. The fact that a second round of aerial bombardment took place targeting important gatherings of civilians at the entrance of the Industrial City on November 25, 2014, stands
as a chilling example of such pattern.
Under to customary international humanitarian law, indiscriminate attacks on civilians are serious violations of international humanitarian law8. It accordingly constitutes a war crime9,
which carries the individual criminal responsibility of the commanders who gave the orders
for such attacks, as well as anyone who has committed or facilitated the attacks that qualify
as war crimes, and anyone who has assisted, or has aided and abetted them. The Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court makes it a war crime, in the context of a non-international
armed conflict, to intentionally direct attacks against the civilian population as such or against
individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities (article 8 2 (e) (ii)). In a great number
of cases, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted war
criminals for the indiscriminate bombing of the civilian population10.
Finally, the incidents documented herein are likely to constitute crimes against humanity as defined by the case law of international criminal tribunals and article 7 of the Rome Statute, insofar as the killing of civilians, occurring in the context of widespread or systematic attack against
the civilian population of Raqqa, as documented above, may constitute murder, which is one
of the underlying offences of crimes against humanity.
8- Id., at p. 599.
9- Id., at p. 568 (Rule 156).
10- ICTY, Prosecutor v. Milan Martic, Trial Chamber Judgement (2007), 472. See also ICTY, Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaki, Trial Chamber Judgement (2000), 512 and ICTY, Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galic, Trial Chamber Judgement (2003), 596.

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

Fourth: A List of the Victims Documented and Verified by VDC

A- Tuesday 25 Nov 2014-11-29
1-Ibrahim Abdulkafi Hindawi

(Source of image: Raqqa News Center)

2- Samer Muhammad Sultan, born in al-Hol area. His mother is Kamleh Abbas.
3- Bassam Dahhamal-Shommari. He was killed in Pullman Garage

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

4- Hammoud Alloush al-Khatab.

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

5-Mahmoud Tarboush, 17 years, Seif al-Dawla neighborhood

6-Ali Tarboush, 20 years, Seif al-Dawla neighborhood
7-Hamadeh al-Barazi, whose mother died by a stoke after she heard about the death of her
son, according to some sources. (Other sources said his name is Ahmad al-Barazi)
8-Ramez Saad al-Din Abboush, married and has two sons. He was killed with his two sons.
9-Saad Ramez Saad al-Din Abboush
10-Fahed Ramez Saad al-Din Abboush
11-Ammar Aziz
12- Hassan Khalaf, 30 years
13-Muhannad Ahmad Badran
14- Khalil Abdullah Sulaiman, 13 years
15- The son of Abdullas Rasheed Swailem, 10 years (he remained anonymous)
16- Ahmad Sobhi Owera
17- Ibrahim al-Najm Ebeido, nicknamed by Bahri, 47 years
18- Saher Allawi, known by Abu al-Allawi. He was killed in the Museum area
19-Bashar Hasan Ali
20- Mustafa Ahmad Hussein al-Fakkhash
21- Faisal Saleh al-Hamoud

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

22-Hammoud Alloush al-Khatab

55- A young man of Othman Family (2)

23-Khaled al-Hammoud

56-Muhannad Badran

24-Mahmoud Muhammad Abbas

57-Hasan Ibrahim Hasan

25- Omar Himzawi

58-Ibrahim Ibrahim Hasan

26- Muhammad al-Sheikh, from Mashlab

59-Khalil Jaber

27- Hamzah al-Saleh

60-Muhammad Yaser Tahseen

28-Muhammad al-Faraj

61-Khalil al-Shalal Abu Haitham, about fifty

29-Muatasim al- Mahmoud

30- Hussam al-Issa

years old
62-Khalil al-Haj Daher Abu Haitham.

31- Khalil al-Muslim

He was killed in the massacre of the

32- Abdullah al-Muhammad

Industrial area

33-Huzaifa Khalaf al-Ibrahim

63-Jasem Muhammad Ali Jasem

(a different person from

64-Muhamad Mustafa Tayeb

Huzaifa Khalaf al-Ghanem).

65-Khalaf Hasan Ibrahim Issa al-Ghanem

34-Rasheed al-Rasheed

66-Faisal Ali al-Radi

35-Ali Aqeeli

67-Ismael al-Abd al-Ali

36-Ibrahim al-Musa

68-Hussein al-Abd al-Ghattas

37-Abdullah Salem al-Hajaij

69-Abdulsalam Muhammad Sarhan

38-Ibrahim al-Najm al-Abyo, 47 years

70-Muhammad Yaser Tahseen

39-Ismael al-Salama
40-Muhammad Farawati

(the son of the photographer Tahseen).

71-Ahmad Ammar Haidar

41-Zuhdi al-Sultan

(another source said his name

42-Osama al-Jerd

is Ammar Ahmad Haidar)

43-Ahmad Mustafa Muhammad

45-Ahmad Khatab

72-Khalil al-Jaber. he died due to

his wounds on 26-11-2014

46-Mustafa Nwairan

73-Abdullah al-Samra

47-Bashar Hasan al-Ali

74-Mahmoud Ibrhim Rabea Kurdi, 13 years old.

48-Ahmad Sulaiman al-Tayeb

He was killed in the massacre of the Industrial

49- Huzaifa Khalaf al-Ghanem

area

50- A woman of Othman Family (1)

10

51- A woman of Othman Family (2)

Activists of the VDC are still trying to docu-

52- A woman of Othman Family (3)

ment dozens of other names, especially those

53- A woman of Othman Family (4)

of the bodies that were charred or completely

54-A young man of Othman Family (1)

burned, who are still anonymous .

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

B- Thursday 27 Nov 2014

1- A lady named Shaima, who was killed with her infant
2-Mrs. Shaimas infant who was killed with her mother

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

3- Judge Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbals wife

4-Dawood Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbal
5- Dawood Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbals wife
6- Dawood Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbals son (1)
7- Dawood Muhammad Abdulaziz al-Buhbals son (2)
8-Mustafa al-Habib Darweesh
The activist are still trying to verify and document the anonymous bodies.

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November

11

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

Some images

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

12

www.vdc-sy.info
editor@vdc-sy.info

Violations Documentation Center in Syria

Source of image (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

For any questions and comments:

editor@vdc-sy.org
to view our previous reports:
http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/ar/reports

Flash Report about Tuesday and Thursdays

Massacre in Raqqa 25- 27 November