Latest news with #BelkisWille
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Russia using drones to hunt Ukrainian civilians: HRW
Russian forces have been using drones to hunt and attack civilians in Ukraine and continue to do so, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a report released on Tuesday, HRW stated that the Russian military has repeatedly deployed unmanned drones to attack civilian targets in its more than three-year war with Ukraine. The NGO said that dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in violation of the laws of war. Referencing video from Russian drones and witnesses and survivors, the rights watchdog alleges that Russia has 'deliberately or recklessly' hunted civilians and civilian objects, particularly in the southern city of Kherson, using 'commercially available quadcopter drones' made domestically and in China. 'Russian drone operators are able to track their targets, with high-resolution video feeds, leaving little doubt that the intent is to kill, maim, and terrify civilians,' Belkis Wille, a director on arms and conflict at HRW, said in a statement. 'They exemplify why the international community needs to support all avenues of accountability for victims of Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.' The findings support reports from residents and officials in Kherson earlier this year that said Russian drone operators were training by targeting civilians in 'human safaris'. HRW interviewed 36 survivors and witnesses to attacks and combed through 83 videos uploaded on Russian military-affiliated Telegram channels, as well as visual materials provided by witnesses and researchers. Overall, at least 45 'deliberate drone attacks' by Russian forces from June to December 2024 on civilians and civilian objects, including healthcare facilities, were recorded. Authorities in Kherson reported at least 30 deaths and 500 civilian injuries from drone attacks around the same period. A January 2025 report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said drone attacks accounted for 70 percent of civilian casualties in Kherson. 'The attacks have the apparent purpose of instilling terror in the civilian population in Kherson, part of a widespread attack against that population,' the report said. HRW said Russia deployed commercial drones made by the Chinese companies, DJI and Autel, and by one Russian entity, Sudoplatov, which has purportedly described itself as a 'volunteer organisation'.
CBC
30-01-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Ukrainians in Kherson survived Russia's occupation. Now, they're being hunted by drones
Social Sharing When Dmytro stepped out into the morning sun last October after paying to fill up his car at a gas station in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, the 46-year-old immediately heard the unmistakable buzz of a drone overheard. And then he felt the force of a powerful explosion. "It happened so fast," said Dmytro, who asked CBC News to not publish his last name for security reasons. "There were a lot of flames. I was bleeding right away." He was thrown back into the store, hitting a fridge full of drinks. His eyes stung and pain radiated through his right shoulder. After stumbling to his feet, Dmytro managed to make it to his car and drove himself to a hospital, where he needed surgery to remove shrapnel that had been created by the explosive dropped by a Russian drone. Since the summer, the number of drone attacks on people in Kherson has increased dramatically, killing nearly 70 and injuring more than 700, according to local officials. The attacks, which some have dubbed a "human safari," have forced many to flee the areas closest to the Dnipro River, while trapping others indoors because of a fear of stepping outside. Authorities in Kherson believe Russian soldiers are deliberately targeting and terrorizing civilians in an attempt to get them to leave the area. Human rights investigators say the Russian military's tactics are a clear violation of international law, and a very worrying example of the terror that can be created by inexpensive drones fitted with explosives. Frequent attacks Kherson, which had a pre-war population of around 300,000, was the first major Ukrainian city captured by Russian forces at the outset of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia considers the entire region its territory. Kherson is one of four areas that Moscow claimed during what observers describe as sham referendums held in September 2022. Over the course of nearly three years, Kherson has been occupied, liberated and is now being bombarded by the Russian military. Less than a quarter of its original residents remain. The most dangerous areas include the suburb of Antonivka, and to the west of that, Kherson's Dniprovskyi district. Both neighbourhoods sit along the Dnipro River, which now acts as a dividing line between Ukrainian and Russian positions. In those areas and others, drones have stalked people on bicycles and chased pedestrians before dropping explosives on many of them. In some cases, they hit their apparent targets; other times, there are near-misses. Vehicles have come under frequent attack, including ambulances and city buses. A strike on a bus on Jan. 6 killed two people and injured several others. According to local officials, the dead included a local ecologist and a city employee. "It is absolutely clear that what we are talking about is an abusive campaign that is targeting civilians," said Belkis Wille, an associate director in the crisis, conflict and arms division at Human Rights Watch, in an interview with CBC News. " [The people] are really living in a horrifying reality." 'Clear violation' of humanitarian law Belkis, whose team has been investigating the drone attacks, visited Kherson in November and spoke with dozens of residents. Human Rights Watch has been cataloguing videos taken from the cameras of the drones and posted by pro-Russian accounts on the social media platform Telegram. The videos often include music and captions with ominous warnings. In a video posted Jan. 18, a drone hovers above a man who appears to be trying to seek cover next to a building. He looks up and makes the sign of a cross several times, before the drone appears to turn to fly off and the video ends. The pro-Russian accounts warn that any "civilian infrastructure" or vehicles moving in what they label Kherson's "red zone" — the southern part of the city, along with the suburb of Antonivka — will be "considered as legitimate targets." WATCH | Telegram channels show what look like Russian drone attacks on civilians: Pro-Russian Telegram channels post unverified video of drones tracking Ukrainians 4 minutes ago Duration 1:05 "You can't just decide that the entire segment of a city with civilians in it is an area in which you can target anything that moves," said Wille. "That is a clear violation of international humanitarian law." The Telegram accounts claim that Ukraine's military is trying to operate while blending in with residents. The posts accuse city buses of carrying ammunition and Ukrainian soldiers of driving out in civilian cars. CBC was unable to verify the videos or who exactly was in them. Throughout the war, Russian officials have said that their military does not target civilians. Ukrainian authorities and victims vehemently dispute this. "It's a lie," Dmytro told CBC News on Jan. 28, while inside a shelter in the Kherson region. "They shoot where there's no military. And they bomb people. That's how I understand it." Dmytro, who says he used to work in security, now struggles to walk. He has a heavy limp and a cane. He says he suffered from nerve damage to his legs long before the drone attack. He said he heard of an elderly woman on a bicycle who was chased by a drone, and a man killed while walking his dog. A desire to leave Investigators with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a London-based non-profit, have also been studying footage of the drone attacks. They produced a report saying it is a "realistic possibility" Russian soldiers are using the drone attacks as a live-fire training exercise. Between July and Jan. 26, CIR found evidence of nearly 130 attacks that appeared to involve civilians. The centre concluded that while the Ukrainian military operates in these areas, some civilians remain and that they and their vehicles are being targeted. In the last week of January, local officials reported several drone attacks. A 44-year-old man on a tractor was killed, as was a 45-year-old man on a bike. Residents say when the sun is shining and there is clear visibility, there are sure to be drones in the air. Heavy rain and fog usually means a brief reprieve. Some people try to avoid being in cars, because the engines drown out the warning buzz of a drone above. Dmytro said that before he was injured by the drone, he would frequently look up at the skies. After the attack, volunteers helped him, his wife and their five children leave the village. The family now shares two rooms in a temporary housing complex further north. The risk of shelling, along with the constant threat of drones, has led to an increase of people — particularly those living along the Dnipro River — wanting to leave Kherson. More and more are being evacuated because of the threat to their lives, said Olha Tykhomyrova, the head of social work for the Chornobaivka district, which is part of the Kherson military administration. But she says a lot of them have mobility issues and have had difficulty leaving. 'Everything is destroyed' While speaking to Dmytro at the shelter, CBC News met 75-year-old Lubov Tymofeeva, who arrived after being evacuated from Antonivka. She walked with a cane, and became overwhelmed when asked about what she has been through. While in her home, Tymofeeva had no phone or heat, and no way to escape. "It is horrible there. It is hell," she cried, holding her head in her hands. "Everything is destroyed." Tymofeeva, who lived alone and has no family in Ukraine, says she spent the last three months sleeping under a pile of blankets with no gas or electricity, listening to the drones and the shelling. When she ran out of food, she started warming up water by the light of a candle and adding milk given to her by a group that had dropped off aid. She wanted to leave but had no working car, so she walked for a few hours to a hospital, where humanitarian workers drove her to the shelter. "I was hoping maybe soon the war will end," she said. "But it is bloody not ending." Wille says Russia's targeting of civilians in Kherson is reminiscent of its campaign in Idlib, Syria, in 2018, when its airforce was striking civilian infrastructure like schools as part of its defence of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime. Not only is Russia using drones to drop explosives in Kherson, but Wille says they have also been used to scatter landmines. She says drones have made it possible to target civilians in a deliberate yet inexpensive manner.
Roya News
29-01-2025
- Health
- Roya News
Human Rights Watch: 300% rise in miscarriages in Gaza
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report, Tuesday, detailing the devastating effects of "Israel's" military actions on pregnant women and newborns in Gaza. The report, titled 'Five Babies in One Incubator' Violations of Pregnant Women's Rights Amid Israel's Assault on Gaza, highlights severe medical shortages, a sharp increase in miscarriages, and dire conditions for childbirth. According to HRW, the "Israeli" blockade and attacks on Gaza's healthcare infrastructure have placed women and girls in life-threatening situations during pregnancy and childbirth. The report stresses that "Israel", as the occupying power in Gaza, has violated the rights of pregnant women to receive adequate healthcare, including dignified and respectful care during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at HRW, stated, 'Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food. They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death.' The report, based on interviews conducted between June and December 2024, found that only a fraction of Gaza's hospitals remain functional, with emergency obstetric and newborn care available in only a few. Despite a ceasefire agreement in January 2025, healthcare quality remains severely diminished, with overcrowded conditions and shortages of essential medical supplies. Furthermore, recent "Israeli" legislation could worsen maternal and newborn health by restricting the operations of UNRWA, which provides crucial aid to Palestinian families. HRW's findings also show a dramatic 300 percent increase in miscarriages since the start of the aggression in October 2023, while other health services, including prenatal care and follow-up, are nearly non-existent. The humanitarian crisis has left many pregnant women and their babies without access to life-saving care, with reports of overcrowded incubators and newborn deaths due to hypothermia.
Al Jazeera
28-01-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
‘Five babies in incubator': HRW on danger to pregnant women, babies in Gaza
Israel's 15-month war on Gaza, as well as severe restrictions it imposed on the flow of humanitarian aid and Israeli forces' attacks on health facilities and targeting of healthcare workers, have led to 'life-threatening danger' for pregnant women and babies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a new report. Despite the ongoing ceasefire, the precarious conditions under which women in Gaza are giving birth are unlikely to improve, the group noted in the report published on Tuesday, as Israeli legislation targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and taking effect this week is expected to severely limit the delivery of humanitarian relief to the devastated territory. The group found that women in Gaza have been rushed out of overcrowded hospitals, sometimes within hours of giving birth, in order to make room for war casualties. Newborn care has also been severely impacted, with one doctor at al-Helal al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah saying that the facility had so few incubators and so many preterm babies that doctors there were forced to put 'four or five babies in one incubator'. 'Most of them don't survive,' the doctor added. Several babies have died from the lack of shelter amid freezing temperatures. In the 56-page report, HRW concluded that Israel — as the occupying power in Gaza — has violated the rights of pregnant women and girls, including the right to dignified care in pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, as well as the right to newborn care. The group also stressed that two pieces of legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset last year and taking effect on Tuesday threaten to 'further exacerbate the harm to maternal and newborn health'. The bills, which bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem and the Israeli government from contact with the agency, effectively make it impossible for UNRWA to get permits for its staff and to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza. Belkis Wille, HRW's associate crisis, conflict and arms director, told Al Jazeera that 'despite the fact that the ceasefire could provide an opportunity for the healthcare system in Gaza to begin to be restored, because of the laws coming into effect, banning the operations of UNRWA, the reality is that these coming weeks may lead to pregnant women and newborns suffering even more than they already have'. 'The provisions of the ceasefire don't really address any of the significant needs that are outlined in the report,' Wille added. According to the report, as of this month, emergency obstetric and newborn care is only available at seven out of 18 partially functioning hospitals across Gaza, four out of 11 field hospitals, and one community health centre. All medical facilities operating in Gaza face 'unsanitary and overcrowded conditions' and serious shortages of essential healthcare supplies, including medicine and vaccines. And medical workers, 'hungry, overworked and at times under military attack', are scrambling to tend to victims of attacks while also addressing countless cases of waterborne and other communicable diseases, the report adds. HRW conducted interviews with women who were pregnant while living in Gaza during the war, medical workers from Gaza, and international medical staff working with international humanitarian organisations and agencies operating teams in Gaza. The interviews paint a horrific picture of the war's impact on access to basic care during pregnancy and birth. Little information is available on the survival rate of newborns or the number of women experiencing serious complications or dying during pregnancy, birth, or postpartum, HRW notes. But the group points to testimony by maternity health experts who reported that the rate of miscarriage in Gaza had increased by up to 300 percent since war began on October 7, 2023. It also pointed to UN reports that at least eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia due to lack of basic shelter. Israel's war has led to an unprecedented displacement of some 90 percent of Gaza's residents, many of whom were displaced multiple times. That has made it impossible for pregnant women to safely access health services, the report found, noting that mothers and newborns have had almost no access to postnatal care. Late last year, Human Rights Watch concluded in a different report that Israel was committing ' acts of genocide ' by denying clean water to Palestinians in Gaza. It also found that Israel's use of ' starvation as a method of warfare ' led to severe food insecurity. Pregnant women have been particularly impacted by lack of access to food and water, with critical consequences for their own health and for fetal development. Many pregnant women have reported dehydration or being unable to wash themselves, the report added. 'Israeli authorities' blatant and repeated violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Gaza have had a particular and acute impact on pregnant women and girls and newborns,' Wille said. 'The ceasefire alone won't end these horrific conditions. Governments should press Israel to urgently ensure that the needs of pregnant women and girls, newborns, and others requiring health care are met.'
