A/HRC/22/59 Annex XIII Pillaging and destruction of propertya 1. Deliberately destroying the property of an adversary in the absence of military necessity is illegal under international humanitarian law. For purposes of this analysis, property of suspected anti-Government members and supporters was considered as being that of the “adversary.” For anti-Government armed groups, the same was considered when the property belonged to Government personnel or was non-military Government property. Appropriating property for private or personal use (pillaging) in the context of an armed conflict is a war crime.b Twenty-eight interviews were conducted regarding property destruction and pillaging over the reporting period. I. Government forces and affiliated militia 2. Government forces and affiliated militia intentionally destroyed the homes and businesses of (suspected) anti-Government members and supporters during raids on villages and neighbourhoods. Instances of overt destruction included the burning down of property, blowing it up, and damaging it beyond repair. Credible accounts attributed these crimes to Government security forces. Looting was a frequent precursor to the destruction. 3. Multiple interviewees described an army-led attack on the town of Bosra, Dara’a governerate on 15 October. The neighbourhood where the attack took place is mixed, with some 5000 Shi’as living amongst the majority Sunni population. The army, allegedly supported by more than 300 members belonging to the local ‘Popular Committees,’ (referred to by the interviewee as “Shabbiha”) swept through the neighbourhood. Together they emptied houses of their contents and then set them alight. According to one person interviewed, “[t]he army would break into the houses and then the Shabbiha would burn them down… they were careful not to damage the Shi’a houses on the edge of the street.” Reports put the total number of homes burned in the operation at 30. 4. On 14 October, a mixture of Air Force Intelligence, Military Security Intelligence and Shabbiha entered the town of Mhajjah, Dara’a. They went from house to house searching for names on a list. They burnt 100 houses, many of which belonged to men who had defected from the security forces. Another interviewee stated that “only 10 houses remain” in the village of Lihraq, Dara’a, all the others, including the interviewee’s house were burned down some time after August, by Government forces and affiliated militia. 5. In a village east of Homs, Deir Baalbeh, an army raid on 28–29 December ended with an interviewee stating, “There is not a single house in Deir Baalbeh that hasn’t been looted and burned.” Video footage confirmed the widespread destruction and homes emptied of their contents. 6. In Latakia, anti-Government forces attacked Government compounds in Qastal Ma’af village in August. Police stations and Interior Ministry offices were targeted, however, FSA forces were repelled and ultimately withdrew. “This triggered indiscriminate shelling by the Government against all Turkman villages in the district, and already at the same day, when the clashes erupted, they started with campaigns of looting homes of a b 118 See A/HRC/21/50, Annex II for the applicable law. Article 8(2)(e)(v), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. GE.13-10627