“Violations of the laws of war by one side to the conflict do not justify violations by the other side.” – Human Rights Watch
Shelling Civilians
Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch have
implicated both Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatist forces
in the bombing and shelling of civilian areas. Belligerents are obligated by
international law to distinguish between military targets and civilians, and not
to engage in acts that cause civilian casualties disproportionate to the
military advantage gained by the action. For instance, issuing an order to fire
on anything that moves would be clearly criminal (not distinguishing between
combatants and civilians), as would the fire-bombing of a hospital to suppress
a single sniper (civilian damage being clearly excessive to the military advantage
from threatening one enemy).
Despite denials from both sides, there is little evidence
that either the Ukrainian military or the separatists have taken any practical
actions to protect civilians.
The Grad
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| A Russian Grad during a recent exercise. Photo: Andrey Kronberg/AFP/Getty Images |
The BM-21 Grad is a Soviet multiple rocket launcher (MRL) that
is widely used around the world. Based on the World War 2-era BM-14 “Katyusha”,
the purpose of BM-21 is to bombard large, prepared enemy defensive positions
prior to a ground assault. It is extraordinarily indiscriminate, being
incapable of targeting an area smaller than about 200x300 meters. When fired, a
Grad will cover that area with 40 122mm rockets, firing one every half-second. Unlike
more-modern MRLs, some of which can fire precise, GPS-guided rockets, there is
no way to aim a Grad at specific targets.
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| Ukrainian troops reload a Grad. Photo: Aleksey Chernyshev/AFP/Getty Images |
The use of this weapon in particular has been heavily
criticized by human rights groups – with good reason. If used on a populated
area, civilian casualties are all but guaranteed. The use of Grads in this
manner suggests a lack of effort to distinguish between civilian and military
targets.
The Ukrainian military, the separatists, and the Russian
military are all known to operate the BM-21. BM-21s have also been used to bombard
civilian areas during the Libyan and Syrian Civil Wars, by the Qaddafi and
Assad governments. ISIS has captured Grads from the Syrian military.
Abductions, Torture, Executions, and Threats
The human rights organizations also document the abduction,
torture, and execution of civilians both by the separatists and by “volunteer
battalions” fighting for the Ukrainian government. The separatists have attacked journalists,
religious minorities, and supporters of the Ukrainian government; government
militias appear to have limited their attacks to those they believe to be
affiliated with the separatists. This does not excuse the actions of either
side.
So far, there seems to be little evidence of the regular
Ukrainian military committing these crimes. It’s possible that even Ukrainian
shelling of separatist-held cities is also primarily the work of
poorly-disciplined volunteer battalions, but even if this is the case, the
Ukrainian military bears responsibility for allowing these violations to
continue. No hands are clean here.
A Note on History
Exactly 75 years ago yesterday, Germany invaded Poland. The
first action of the war began at 4:40 AM with the dive-bombing of the town of
Wieluń. Repeated waves of bombers destroyed 70% of the town and killed between 1,200
and 1,300 people – the equivalent of half the fighting in east Ukraine in the
span of hours. There was no military presence in the town whatsoever.
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