Paris – Statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) held an online launch event for SNHR’s Two Reports on the Most Notable Violations by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and ISIS, with the participation of Mr. Ibrahim Olabi, a lawyer (barrister) at Guernica 37 in London, Mr. Hossam Jazmati, Syrian writer and researcher, whose work focuses on analysis of jihadist movements, and Mr. Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR’s Director. The event, which was moderated by the Syrian journalist Nour H. Murad, was broadcast via Zoom and social media platforms.
On January 31, 2022, SNHR issued a report on the most notable Hay’at Tahrir al Sham violations since the establishment of Jabhat al Nusra to date, which revealed that HTS continues to commit multiple types of human rights violations, mainly in its detention centers.
On February 10, 2022, SNHR issued another report, concerning the most notable ISIS violations against Syrian society and ISIS’ contribution to distorting the popular uprising calling for freedom and dignity. In this report, SNHR revealed that ISIS has killed at least 5,043 individuals since the announcement of the organization’s establishment in Syria in April 2013, noting that despite the passage of almost two years since the defeat of ISIS, the fate of nearly 8,684 persons forcibly disappeared by ISIS remains unknown.
Mr. Fadel Abdul Ghany indicated that work on the report of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham took about a year and a half. Mr. Abdul Ghany began by talking about the establishment and history of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham in its various iterations and different names, and about the restrictions imposed by the group on rights and freedoms, with SNHR documenting hundreds of cases of persecution and detention in connection with criticizing or opposing Hay’at Tahrir al Sham’s policies, no matter how minor or limited these criticisms were, such as writing a post or tweet on Facebook and Twitter. Mr. Abdul Ghany also talked about HTS’ judicial system and its al Hesba ‘police’ apparatus, as well as its security judiciary, which is extremely similar to the Syrian regime’s Counter-terrorism Court. He also talked about the severe restrictions and control imposed by the group’s al Hesba apparatus on the freedoms of individuals and public liberties in society.
Mr. Abdul Ghany reviewed the statistics of the most notable violations carried out by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham since its establishment up until December 2021, with SNHR documenting the deaths of at least 505 civilians, including 71 children and 77 women (adult female) at the group’s hands, as well as noting that at least 2,327 of the individuals arrested by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham since the beginning of 2012, including 43 children and 44 women (adult female), are still arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared by the group as of December 2021.
Mr. Abdul Ghany stated that the SNHR had documented the names of the most prominent security officials involved in arbitrary detentions, torture and enforced disappearances, stressing that disclosing their names is part of the accountability process.