Toll of Most Notable Violations of Human Rights on the Seven Anniversary of the Popular Uprising in Syria
The Syrian Network for Human Rights released a report in the seventh anniversary of the popular uprising in Syria documenting the most notable violations of human rights since March 2011, first the killings of civilians which toll reached over 217 thousands Syrian civilians.
In the report it was mentioned that the past seven years have proven the sadism, cruelty, bloodiness, and brutality that the governing regime faced the people with, these people who came out demanding change to this nepotism-based security regime, and this is the essence of the popular uprising, far from the elements and changes that manipulated it and interfered with it later on. As this nepotism-based regime obliterated any form of political activities, and his main concern became the continuity of its ruling forever.
The report also asserted that what is not comprehensible is the level of the international silence and nihilism towards these crimes that have been unequivocally documented by local, national, and international organizations, but even worse some of the states, convoys, mediators, and officials, are advertising the idea of ending the popular demands of dignity, freedom, ending the ruling to this family regime, and democratic transition, and limit it to “realistic” demands, instead of holding the butchers enemies of humanity accountable.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, added:
“After almost complete end of ISIS, the essence of the Syrian conflict rose to the front again, as it is a conflict between a bloody family ruling regime and a popular movement that later became an armed movement, and any attempt to overlook this equation will not lead to any form of stability, but will lead to more years of displacement and killing, in light of the international community complete absence”.
The report shows the toll of most notable violations perpetrated by the main parties to the conflict in Syria from March 2011 until March 2018.
The report stated; 217,764 civilians have been killed since March 2011, 93% of them killed at the hands of the Syrian Russian alliance, and the percentage of children and women victims exceeds 18% which is a very high percentage that indicates to the targeting of civilians by the Syrian Russian alliance forces.
The report introduced a statistic showing that 104,029 individuals are still under arbitrary arrest or forcibly disappeared in official and non-official Syrian regime detention centers from March 2011 until March 2018.
And according to the report, Kurdish Self-management forces have perpetrated arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances in its areas of control, and arrested no less than 2,419 individuals since its founding until March 2018.
The report pointed out that ISIS have arrested no less than 8119 individuals, while Hay’at Tahrir al Sham arrested no less than 1688 individuals until March 2018.
And in the report it was mentioned that armed opposition factions perpetrated arrests against civilians after raiding areas under Syrian regime forces control, as 2,574 individuals are still under arbitrary arrest in armed opposition prisons until March 2018.
The report mentions that Syrian regime forces resorted to various methods and types of torture against all its detainees, pointing out that 13,029 individuals died due to torture in Syrian regime prisons from March 2011 until March 2018.
The report included the toll of victims of death due to torture in Extremist Islamic groups that reached 52 individuals, 21 killed at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and 31 killed at the hands of ISIS, while 34 individuals died due to torture by all the armed opposition factions until March 2018, as Kurdish Self-management forces killed no less than 29 individuals due to torture since its founding until March 2018.
The report mentioned that Syrian regime forces followed a policy of imposing siege on areas under the control of armed opposition, and blocked food and medicine, leading to the death of 914 civilians, including 398 children and 187 women (adult female), the report also states that ISIS resorted to the same policy in Deir Ez-Zour city and al Yarmouk Camp south of Damascus city, leading to the death of 47 civilians, including 16 children and 10 women (adult female).
And according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights records, there has been 217 chemical attacks in Syria since its first use in December 2012 until March 2018, the Syrian regime perpetrated 212 of them, causing the death of no less than 1,421 individuals, while ISIS perpetrated 5 attacks.
And according to the report, cluster munitions were used no less than 431 times since March 2011, 212 of them were attacks by Syrian regime forces while 219 attacks were by Russian forces, the report recorded the Syrian regime warplanes dropping about 69,480 barrel bombs since its first documented use in July 18, 2012 until March 2018.
The report also stated, that 131 attacks by incendiary ammunitions on civilian residential areas have been recorded, 117 of them perpetrated by Russian forces, and 12 attacks perpetrated by Syrian regime forces, while 2 attacks by International Coalition, all the attacks have been on residential neighborhoods.
The report mentioned that about 13.5 million individuals have been forcibly displaced, around 7.5 million of them inside Syria through mass displacement waves due to the military operations and conflicts between the parties, or as a result of truces and agreements imposed on the sieged cities and towns, while about 6 million refugees are outside Syria.
The parties to the conflict, especially the Syrian-Russian alliance haven’t taken enough precautions to avoid the suffering of the civilians due to the conflict, on the contrary they systematically perpetrated attacks against civilians, including women and children, and didn’t have any regard for the articles of the International Humanitarian Law and the related Security Council resolutions, and widely targeted protected civilian facilities.
The report demanded that the members of the Security Council must stop using the veto to protect the Syrian regime, that have been committing thousands of violations over seven years, many of which are crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The report pointed out that no party to the conflict, especially the Syrian regime, committed to the Security Council resolutions on chemical weapons or barrel bombs or enforced disappearances, the Security Council have no choice after seven years but a military intervention to protect the Syrian civilians.
The report demanded that the international community must intervene immediately to protect the civilians after all this unimaginable losses, and to apply serious pressure on Russia and Iran as they are main partners in the violations committed in Syria, and continuously supplying the Syrian regime with weapons, and for directly participating in thousands of violations against the Syrian citizen.
The report demanded of the parties to the conflict to comply with the rules of the Customary Humanitarian Law, Security Council resolutions, neutralizing civilians, releasing detainees and hostages, stopping torture, reveal the fate of the missing and disappeared individuals, and lift the siege.