I. Report summary:
The Syrian Network for Human Rights’ team documented the killing of nine medical personnel in March 2014, including three doctors and a pharmacist, all at the hands of government forces.
II. Introduction:
As the Syrian revolution entered its fourth year, medical personnel have continued to be in the crossfire and subjected to violence by all the parties to the armed conflict in Syria, with government forces far exceeding other parties, singly or collectively, in the number and magnitude of the violations perpetrated. To this day, the government’s forces have not stopped targeting hospitals, health centers, pharmacies and ambulances in areas controlled by the opposition, in addition to targeting medical personnel for direct killing or death by torture in prisons, as well as for arrest, abduction and all kinds of persecution, on charges of providing medical services to persons or entities opposing the Syrian government.