A Practice By Syrian Government Forces
Syrian regime forces, pro-government forces and foreign militias have widely adopted the practice of execution by burning and the burning of bodies of murdered persons since the start of the events in Syria in 2011. This practice has endured throughout 2012 and the following years.
Burning individuals to death at the hands of the Syrian regime has received little or no media coverage. Syrian government officials deny carrying out such practices; however such crimes are being embraced and published on several pro-government websites. These crimes have not been recorded by regime forces, but rather by the victims’ families and/or local human rights activists using modest recording tools and cameras. The content of these recordings have then been uploaded to several websites, and sent to the Syrian Network for Human Rights via email. Based on witness accounts, testimonies of family members and video evidence, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights, has been able to monitor and document these crimes and produce accurate results.