Vladimir Putin’s war methods in Syria have resulted in a human rights crisis that led President Francois Hollande of France to say the Russian president should be tried for war crimes , reports BBC News .
Also, it may be the first time in an election year that a presidential nominee is frequently associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There are some people who do not really understand why that is such a concern.
However, United Nations Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein does. 570 News reports that in a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, today, Zeid told the press that Donald Trump is dangerous .
He said, “If Donald Trump is elected, on the basis of what he has said already and unless that changes, I think it’s without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view.”
The United Nations Human Rights Council thinks Donald Trump is dangerous.
Zeid told reporters that from a human rights perspective, the things Donald Trump has said are “deeply unsettling and disturbing to me.” Russia didn’t like that. Zeid’s comments prompted a rebuke from the Russian U.N. ambassador. Why a Russian ambassador is defending United States presidential nominee Donald Trump is not clear.
Zeid was specifically referring to Donald Trump having openly admitted he condoned torture and that he openly disrespects “vulnerable communities.” At this week’s presidential debate, when asked about his response to Islamophobia, Donald Trump replied with a very Islamophobic response.
He says that extreme vetting is the answer to the Syrian refugee human rights crisis.
Hillary Clinton responded to the question with one name: The Khan family.
But Zeid says he does not want to interfere with American politics with his remarks in Switzerland today. He added to reporters that Donald Trump’s favoring “the use of torture” was deeply troubling.
Donald Trump also repeatedly said during the debates this week, he was going to “take out ISIS.” ISIS was Donald Trump’s response to a question about sexual assault this past Sunday night. It is unclear how Donald Trump will take out ISIS, or how that is related to whether or not he has committed sexual assault.
To date, Donald Trump has not offered a full proposal for this policy initiative on ISIS. He has dodged questions about it in the past.
Trump met with Washington Post editorial asked “would you use a battlefield nuclear weapon to take out ISIS?” pic.twitter.com/yXMdJlGRJa
— rosierifka (@rosierifka) March 22, 2016
If Donald Trump follows in the footsteps of Russian President Vladimir Putin, this means the war on Syria, and the continuing human rights violations, will continue in a dangerous and bloody way. This is one of the very vulnerable communities that U.N. Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein is referring to when he says that Donald Trump would be dangerous.
Vladimir Putin already is. The realities of the effects of Vladimir Putin’s decisions are bloody — literally.
It is very easy for the uninformed to stereotype and discriminate against Syrian refugees. But the reality of the life of a Syrian refugee is that they flee their country, to find refuge in the lands of the free, to escape a bloody mess, and to save their own lives.
Hillary Clinton demonstrated a sound grasp of the facts of the Syrian refugee crisis in this week’s debates. Many who watched her response applauded it. They also applauded Canada for the unprecedented work Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has done in bringing Syrian refugees to the country and acclimating them in a community after fleeing a war-torn land.
Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump. #USPresidentialDebate #2ndDebate #Debate #Syria #Aleppo #Canada #US #Russia pic.twitter.com/n5TconX7E2
— Sherifat O. Onabanjo (@SherifatOnabanj) October 10, 2016
A war-torn land is exactly what Syria is, and the realities are bloody and grisly. The other reality is that Vladimir Putin has blood on his hands now. French President Francois Hollande says Putin should be tried for war crimes.
The Independent has released footage of little Ayah, taken in the aftermath of a recent Syrian airstrike . It was an airstrike that was endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The footage is raw, and Ayah is covered in blood, dirt, and tears. She can’t be more than 6-years-old. Ayah is crying for her father.
The footage was taken by an activist group, reports the Independent , after regime shelling occurred in the town of Talbisah very early Monday morning. Ayah is seen shouting “Baba,” which means “dad” or “father,” as her frantic eyes scan the chaos around her in search of him.
She doesn’t know what just happened or where her father is. This happened to her on the order of Vladimir Putin.
Watch the video below. Warning: Viewers discretion is advised due to graphic content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Potyde2RKy4
Ayah is one of many children wondering what is going on in the world around her, a world surrounded by chaos, death, and destruction. Many children in Syria today, catching onto the Pokemon GO craze, hold up pictures of Pokemon GO they have drawn for any camera that can find them.
Their hope: That someone will catch them all.
The Independent reports that Ayah and her father were ultimately reunited at a field hospital later in the day after Monday’s airstrike. Talbisah has a population of approximately 84,000, says the Independent , and has experienced as many as four airstrikes since Sunday evening.
More than 25 people are dead, reports BBC News , and over two dozen have been injured, including this little girl.
Russian-backed bombing and airstrikes are common here now, ever since the international ceasefire that was brokered three weeks ago fell through. A neighboring town to Talbisah, Homs, is now completely empty since the ceasefire collapsed. The town had to be evacuated after constant bombing crumbled the infrastructure of all existing medical assistance.
The bombings come as a result of a vow that President Bashar al-Assad made when the ceasefire crumbled last month. His vow was to eliminate all terrorists, and he’s working with Vladimir Putin the Russian President.
It also was just this weekend that Donald Trump kept repeating he wanted to blow out ISIS. But, his answers in the debate were scattered, suggesting he may not even know what is actually happening in Aleppo.
He also said that Aleppo had fallen. It definitely has not. The United Nations predicts that it will, however, if dictator leadership continues undiplomatic airstrikes and continues the human rights violations noted by the United Nations.
Taking out ISIS is what President Assad and President Putin say they are doing in Aleppo, Syria, and surrounding areas. That is how they rationalize what is happening over there. Little Ayah and thousands of other children are literally caught in the crossfire.
If President Assad is successful at keeping his vow, all U.S.-backed support of the rebel camps would be destroyed. The airstrikes now are part of the battle of Aleppo.
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria, and it was once home to millions. When the civil war began, it was Syrian President Assad who sent armored insurgents to flush out the rebels and wipe out Syrian’s capital city of Damascus.
One commander told reporters that the battle would be lengthy and last many months. That was in 2012.
Today, Russia is committed to continuing the air strikes, they say it is in their efforts to wipe out ISIS. This weekend 25 people died from the airstrikes, some of them children. It’s considered one of the most brutal attacks in months.
#Syria Children of #Aleppo . Playing on a bullet, on a bomb. #stopwar #peaceispossible #savealeppo #????? #??? pic.twitter.com/OlMXJDcRBr
— Federico Di Leo (@Fe_DiLeo) October 12, 2016
The attacks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled a trip to France, reports BBC News . He had been scheduled to meet with French President Francois Hollande. President Hollande said the talks in France would be exclusive to the Syria situation.
Vladimir Putin canceled his trip when he found out that President Hollande wanted to talk about Syria. President Hollande has also suggested that President Putin should be tried for war crimes for what has happened in Aleppo.
According to BBC News , but Moscow says they do not target civilians. That is not the case for Ayah and her father, who was also injured from the airstrike and momentarily separated from her. Nor is it the case for this little Aleppo boy.
Aleppo is now home to only 275,000 people. Most have fled or been killed. What happened this weekend, and into Tuesday, was the result of Russian warplanes dropping what are known as “bunker busters,” or bombs, into the city and surrounding areas.
In addition to releasing this footage of Ayah, activists would also post pictures of deceased toddlers wrapped in blankets, as their distraught parents mourned beside them. Videos circle the Internet of a young boy crying over his brother lost to bombs. Humanitarian and medical aid relief organization Medecins Sans Frontieres told BBC News they only have 11 ambulances left — all of the rest have been bombed.
However, Vladimir Putin does not attack civilians, he says. The United Nations is aware of the crisis and predicts that Aleppo will be vacant within two months if a diplomatic ceasefire can not be reached.
[Featured Image by Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]