Covered In Dust, Veiled by Shadow:
The Seige and Destruction of Aleppo


​ A once prosperous city noted for its commercial and military proficiency, and a melting pot for various cultures and religions, Aleppo, has now been reduced to rubble after the 160 day siege by the Syrian government from July to December 2016. In light of the dissemination of this once great city, the Syrian Accountability Project has released a report giving a complete historical narrative of Aleppo, from start to dust.
 
With origins traced back to the ancient city of Ha-lam in the 3rd millennium BCE, Aleppo came to great power and influence as the Amorite Kingdom of Yamkhad. Throughout the Syrian civil war, Aleppo has played a pivotal role in the conflict, leaving an unstable environment for its civilians while government and rebel forces fought for control.
 
The Syrian Accountability Project on Thursday, April 27, released its latest white paper entitled, “Covered in Dust, Veiled by Shadow: The Siege and Destruction of Aleppo” detailing the historical narrative of the city through the siege ending in late December with the help of I Am Syria Vice President and Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
 
According to the SAP report, by 2014, bombings between government and rebel forces became daily occurences despite U.S. interventions and attempts at peace. When rebels gained control of Aleppo again in 2015, the Syrian government propped itself with the help of Russian forces who were now entering the conflict as an ally.
 
With Russia as an ally in their mission to take back Aleppo, the Syrian army executed “Operation Rainbow,” which the SAP notes as an operation designed to encircle Aleppo and cut off rebel supplies. The operation began with 140 barrel bombs dropping on Aleppo, killing many civilians. The Syrian government remained persistent to cripple the rebel held areas in eastern Aleppo, killing civilians along the way.
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Dec. 7, 2016
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Feb. 27, 2016
The SAP estimates that the start of the siege in July 2016 immediately placed 250,000 civilians in need within the city, forcing the U.N. to call on all parties for a truce to allow humanitarian aid in. The corridors set up by the Syrian Regime for civilians to flee became "corridors of death" and were largely ineffective. The siege of Aleppo saw numerous failed ceasefires, evacuations and daily bombardments. By December 2016, the Regime had what it wanted when they declared they had gained back control of the city.
 
From 2011 to 2016, Aleppo has seen 2,066 barrel bombs, 1,286 civilian shootings and 10,951 shelling’s according to the SAP report. They also note that the violence just about doubles the overall average over the final months of 2016.
 
It comes to no surprise that the most egregious shelling incidents and shelling victims were are the hands of the Russian regime, a close ally to the Syrian Regime. The Russian regime was also responsible for 55% of the hospital attacks according to the SAP. The Siege of Aleppo included the use of chemical weapons and extrajudicial killings by the Syrian Regime and its allies as well.
 
During the siege of Aleppo, it is clear to the SAP that the "manner in which the siege was undertaken by the main parties, including responses from rebel groups, violated international law." The siege also resulted in the "brutal subjugation of the residents in eastern Aleppo, disseminating its foundations" of this once great city. 
 
The SAP is a student-run internationally recognized organization based out of the Syracuse University College of Law in conjuction with the Newhouse Center For Global Engagement.
Authored by law students Kaitlyn Degnan, Zachary Lucas and Sean Mills, the report uses open sources, media accounts and contacts in the field to describe events and to document crimes that occurred during the siege in violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Syrian Penal Code.

​Covered in Dust documents instances from the Conflict Narrative and the Crime Based Matrix. The Conflict Narrative is a comprehensive account of all verified recorded and pertinent crimes documented on a daily basis. The white paper also provides instances in one of 2 ways: most egregious incidents or incidents representative of a larger policy. 

Covered in Dust is the third white paper released by the SAP. “Looking Through the Window Darkly: A Snapshot Analysis of Rape in Syria” the first of the SAP white papers, documented the 142 cases of use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war by all sides of the Syrian conflict. “Idlib Left Breathless: The Chemical Attack in Kahn Sheikhoun,” the second white paper, documents the sarin gas attack on a rebel-held town that reportedly killed at least 87 people, including 28 children.




​03-24-2016
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Authors:
Kaitlyn Degan
Zachary Lucas
Sean Mills

Contributors: 
Jordan Charnetsky 
Cintia Garcia 
Kseniia Guliaeva 
Margaret Mabie 
Samuel Miller 
Joe Railey 
William Salage

Project Leader:
David Crane