The bombing of the Mariupol theater in Ukraine, "a war crime" for Amnesty International
The Mariupol theater destroyed in bombardments, April 10, 2022. REUTERS - STAFF
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On March 16, in Ukraine, the theater of the city of Mariupol was hit by a bombardment attributed to the Russian army, the verified toll to date stands at 12 civilians killed and many injured.
Beyond the figures, Amnesty International now claims that this strike has the characteristics of a war crime.
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The bombardment on March 16 of the theater of
Mariupol
, in Ukraine, in which many civilians had taken refuge, is “
clearly a war crime
” Russian, affirms this Thursday June 30 Thursday a report by Amnesty International.
The number of victims is however much lower than what was feared, also estimates the organization.
Two explosions
destroyed much of the theater
, caused by "
something very big
: two 500-kilogram bombs
" from an "
air strike
", she continued, the nature of the damage crippling according to experts consulted. by the NGO the hypothesis put forward by Moscow of an explosion inside the site caused by the Ukrainian forces.
“
Until now, we were talking about an alleged war crime.
Now we can clearly say that it was one, committed by the Russian armed forces
,” Oksana Pokaltchouk, director of Amnesty International in Ukraine, told AFP during an interview in Paris.
“
A haven for civilians
”
Amnesty International gives three reasons why this attack constitutes a war crime.
“It is a theater that had become a refuge for civilians trying to flee the numerous military attacks.
Among these civilians, there were mainly women, children and the elderly
,” says Tchérina Jérolon of Amnesty International first
,
joined by telephone by
Nicolas Falez
,
of the international service of RFI.
“
The second reason is that the theater itself, therefore the building, was clearly identified, clearly recognizable as civilian property,
” she continues.
Amnesty International denounces a "
deliberate
" attack against a site hosting hundreds of innocent people, in front of which the word "
child
" was written in large white letters.
"The third reason is that our investigators noted the absence of any military objective near the theater, which suggests that it was indeed the target of the attack
", also indicates Tchérina Jérolon.
Only good news from the report, the number of killed would be much lower than estimated, when the municipality of Mariupol had reported about 300 dead.
“
This estimate is lower than previous counts,
recognizes the NGO.
It is based on the fact that many refugees from the theater had managed to flee Mariupol "in
the two days before the attack
", and that "
most of those who remained there were in basements and other zones protected from the explosion
”, she explains.
“
It is good news that fewer people have been killed.
But that doesn't change anything
” on the merits, underlines Oksana Pokaltchouk.
(
And with
AFP)
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