1- Introduction:
SNHR issues seven monthly report, including a report that discusses in detail the most notable of the massacres committed by the armed parties in Syria. This report will not review all the massacres from March 2011 to March 2015 as it is available on our website, because some months saw no less than 120 massacres (an incident where 5 individuals die at the same time), and the main aim of the report is to review the most notable massacres committed by the armed parties against the Syrian people, and stressing that –by a large margin- government forces topped all the other parties 100 times more in the number of violations, in terms of the death toll and the size and capacity of the spread of these massacres, followed by the extremist groups, then all armed opposition groups, then the coalition forces and Kurdish forces.
2- Executive Summary:
The report contains a short description to 34 Massacres of the most notable massacres committed by the influential parties in Syria from March 2011 to March 2015, that caused the death of 4606 individuals including 4513 civilians. Of those, 821 were children and 595 were women as follows:
– Government forces:
22 massacres that resulted in 4259 casualties, including 86 of the armed opposition members while the remaining 4173 were civilians, including 758 children and 568 women.
The largest is the eastern and western Ghouta massacre Wednesday 21 /August /2013, where chemical weapons were used by government forces and was the deadliest as it claimed the lives of 913 people, including 172 children and 148 women.
– Kurdish forces:
– 2 massacres claimed the lives of 48 civilians, including 15 children and 3 women.
The largest massacre is in the villages of Tal Khalil and al Hajiyeh, which claimed the lives of 42 people, including 15 children and 3 women.
– Extremist groups:
ISIS: 3 massacres claimed the lives of 111 civilians, including 18 children and 3 women.
The most notable massacre was the children’s hospital one, which claimed the lives of 50 people, including journalists and civilians
An-Nussra Front: 2 massacres claimed the lives of 53 people, including 9 children, 5 women.
The most notable was the massacre of Al-Zahra neighborhood in Homs, which claimed the lives of 39 civilians, including 3 children, 3 women, and 2 doctors
– Armed Opposition:
3 massacres that claimed the lives of 71 people – 7 fighters from government forces, and 64 civilians, including 14 children, and 9 women
The most notable was the massacre of Al-Mattar neighborhood in Daraa, which claimed the lives of 29 civilians, including 8 children, and 5 women
– Coalition forces:
2 massacres that claimed the lives of 64 civilians, including 7 children, and 7 women
The largest was the Saraya building massacre in Al-Bab city, which claimed the lives of 51 civilians, including 2 women and 2 children.
Third: The massacres committed by the government forces:
1. Al-Rifa’ay, Adweiyah, and Karm Az-Zaytoun neighborhoods in Homs between Friday 9 March 2012 and 11 March 2012
Government forces surrounded the three neighborhoods in Homs on Friday morning 9 / March / 2012, followed by a heavy artillery bombardment that lasted for nearly 18 hours.
On Sunday morning, 11 / March / 2012 government forces, backed by individuals from a pro-Syrian regime neighborhoods, stormed Al-Rifa’ay neighborhood and then Adweiyah and Karm Az-Zaytoun neighborhoods and carried out field executions, and raped women and burned victims’ bodies.
SNHR team managed to document the deaths of 224 people, including 44 children and 48 women.
2. Deir Balba in the period between Monday 2 / April / 2012 and Monday, 9 / April / 2012
Government forces stormed the neighborhood, backed by Shi’ite militias, on the start of April 2012 and committed horrific massacres in the neighborhood, included breaking into homes and field execution against the population and raping women, often followed by abusing corpses and burning or burying them in shallow mass graves.
SNHR team managed to document 199 dead, including 21 children and 20 women.
3. Hula Friday 25 / May / 2012
Government forces, backed by armed members from pro- regime villages, bombed the villages of Hula on Friday morning and the shelling lasted for 14 hours, followed by storming civilian homes on the outskirts of Hula the town of Taldou, and field execution of dozens of people after tying them up and slaughtered them with bayonets, and then they were shot.
SNHRT team managed to document the deaths of 107 people, including 97 civilians, and 10 of the armed opposition members, among the civilians were 49 children and 32 women.
4. Al-Qubeir Farm in Hama, Wednesday 6 / June / 2012
Government forces bombed Al-Qubeir with tanks and heavy and medium machine guns, followed by hundreds of military members storming the village and carry out field execution against the villagers who were about 150 thousand people.