International Coalition Forces Tops Multiple Parties in Perpetrating Violations
SNHR has released eight reports with the start of June 2017, documenting the most notable violations that were perpetrated by the seven parties to the conflict in Syria in the first half of 2017 – civilian death toll, victims due to torture, toll of arbitrary arrests, most notable violations against media activists, most notable massacres, most notable violations against medical and civil defense personnel and their respective facilities, most notable incidents of attack on vital civilian facilities, and barrel bombs use. The reports outline the most notable violations documented by SNHR in the first half of 2017, and highlight the impact of the de-escalation agreement on the rates of violations perpetrated by the parties to the conflict in June. The de-escalation agreement was announced at the end of the fourth round of negotiation in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, and came into effect on Saturday, May 6, 2017
These reports draw upon the daily documentation processes during June, where SNHR, through its scattered members throughout Syria, monitors violations by the parties to the conflict, and publishes most notable news, before releasing a preliminary death toll at the end of each day. For more information, please see our documentation and archiving methodology.
The first report, entitled: “5381 Civilians Killed in the First Half of 2017”, documents the civilian deaths at the hands of the parties to the conflict in the first half of 2017, showing a significant rise in the numbers of civilians killed by international coalition forces, the second-most party responsible for killing civilians in that period of time topped only by Syrian regime forces and its Iranian militias. International coalition forces have killed in the first half of 2017 twice as many as what was documented in the entirety of 2016.
Furthermore, the figures on civilian death toll in June, which are included in the report, showed a notable drop in the number of civilians killed by Russian forces for the second month in a row, while international coalition forces maintained the same pace in killing civilians during the month of June compared to May, as they killed 265 civilians in June; 42% of those were children and women. The only party to kill more than international coalition forces were Syrian regime forces at 278 civilians killed.