I. Introduction
This report contains a number of charts for the death toll of 2016, and the death toll of women, children, victims who died due to torture, medical personnel, and lastly, media activists. Additionally, the report presents a number of infographics that compare the death toll at the hands of the influential parties to the Syrian conflict.
 
The data shown in these charts draws upon the daily documentation processes that have been ongoing since 2011, where SNHR, through its members who are scattered throughout Syria, monitors killings and highlights most notable news and massacre. This is followed by a preliminary toll that is published at the end of every day, and then a preliminary toll at the end of every month. Over the course of six years, our cumulative work has enabled us to establish a database for the victims who are being killed in Syria. For more information, please see our documentation and archiving methodology.
 
II. The Syrian-Iranian-Russian regime is overwhelmingly the main party responsible for the killing of civilians
Being responsible for 52% of the totality of the crimes that were committed in 2016, the Syrian-Iranian regime surpasses all other parties, including its Russian allies. The Syrian regime possesses an air force composing of fixed-wing warplanes and helicopters that are capable of firing missiles and dropping barrel bombs. Aerial bombardment alone has killed 55% at least of the total number of victims, while shelling using heavy artillery and tanks killed 14%. The remaining death toll is divided between various kinds of weapons ranging from machine guns, to snipers, to mortar shells, to chemical weapons, to cluster munitions, and then slaughtering using white weapons.
 
Kurdish Self-management forces, primarily consisting of the Democratic Union Party, a branch for The Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Syria, killed no less than 146 Syrian civilians.
All armed opposition factions, including Islamic factions, have killed no less than 1048 civilians.
Other parties, a category that includes bombings we couldn’t identify the groups behind them, and bullets of unknown source, landmines of unknown source, and drowning in addition to Jordanian, Lebanese, and Turkish forces, were responsible for the killing of 951 civilians in 2016.
 
Comparisons between two sides provide a closer look. For example, when comparing the Syrian regime with ISIS, we find that the Syrian regime has killed six times more civilians than ISIS, while Russian forces, who claimed that they have entered Syria for the purpose of fighting the group, have killed three times more Syrians than ISIS. We believe these figures came to be because both the Syrian and Russian regimes have the resources of a military state including an air force, which these two regimes use on a daily basis to bomb civilian-populated neighborhoods that are controlled by the armed opposition. In many cases, this bombardment is being carried out in a random manner, while it is being conducted deliberately in other cases, for the sole purpose of killing before anything else. In contrast, ISIS uses artillery and mortar shells. It is a very likely possibility that had ISIS possessed a deadlier arsenal, the death toll it would cause would have been considerably bigger.

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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.
 

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Introduction
Government forces have perpetrated many crimes against humanity, through its daily killings, and many war crimes through the indiscriminate bombardment of civilians and fighters. Statistics, names, and pictures of victims show that civilians are being explicitly targeted in a terrorist attempt to exterminate the hometowns of the rebels. Apparently, government forces, led by Bashar Al-Assad, are retaliating after Al-Islam Army targeted various areas in Damascus with missiles. However, facts show that retaliation was extremely excessive and the use of force, in this manner, was unjustifiable. We found out that there was no rebels’ presence or any military centers or gatherings in any of the areas that was targeted by government forces.

The operation didn’t have any distinguishable or known target as neighborhoods, hospitals, markets were all targeted and citizens were killed regardless of their beliefs. Furthermore, we received more than 35 video footages and 50 pictures that show clearly victims, wounded and heavy damages.
All of this data are merely the minimum where the size and quantity of the violations, which were perpetrated through a heavy ongoing shelling, are absolutely greater.

The severity of the military campaign was deepened by medication, food, and fuel shortages in light of the suffocating siege of the whole region of Eastern Ghouta. Many wounded died of their wounds amid a poor medical capabilities and severe lack of equipment and medication. Although, the Security Council adopted resolution 2165 which allows for humanitarian aids to be delivered via borders, the internal areas didn’t receive any aids which mostly go to areas that support the Syrian government as we noted in an extensive report entitled: “Eastern Ghouta is under Siege”

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When a sniper decides to kill a victim, he observes him very closely through the scope which enables him to identify the target before killing him. Thus, sniping is very similar to execution as the sniper knows exactly whom he is going to kill with the only difference being that the sniper, usually, doesn’t know or care about the victim’s charges or distinguish between a child, elder, woman, or even handicapped.

Typically, snipers choose sites that overlook roads and cities so he can observe and obstruct the different aspects of day-to-day life and be able to kill the highest possible number of civilians and rebels inside cities. Furthermore, snipers chose usually religious, educational, or public buildings, such as mosques, schools, hospitals, administrative buildings and residential towers, for its distinguishable location.

The Syrian regime resorted to sniping as a method to oppress demonstrations and protests at the early stages of the Syrian revolution. Many security personnel were used at first as snipers before it was used on a wider scale. The phrase “watch out, there is a sniper” became very common in the streets of Syria. The Syrian regime uses sniping as a method to enforce curfews or close specific streets and location on Fridays.

The Syrian regime used only Syrian snipers until June 2012. However, with the Syrian revolution turning into an armed conflict and the growing clashes in the cities, the Syrian regime relied more heavily on “foreign” Shiite Iraqi, Iranian, and Lebanese snipers. For more details, please see SNHR’s report “Fighting Shiite Militias in Syria”.

In 2013, we recorded the use of new sniping weapons starting with 6 mm to 12,7 mm some of which were manufactured in Belgium or manufactured or tweaked in Iran. Some of the rebels published videos of such weapons after they managed to take over some of the Syrian regime military sites.

The following are some of the most known sites for snipers that were used to kill the highest number of civilians

7 April tower in Damascus – Az-Zabltany.

Bostan Al-Qaser, Al-Qasar Al-Baladi, and Al-Itha’a military checkpoints in Aleppo.

Al-Ghardiniya tower in Homs.

The National Hospital building in Daraa.

The Union building in Hama.

As-Siyasiya tower in Der Ezzor.

Through studying pictures and video footages of people who were injured by snipers, SNHR was able to note some “characteristics” of the Syrian regime snipers, type of victims they tend to target, or the injuries they intend to cause. For instance, some of them intend to injure women in sensitive areas; SNHR documented the killing of 641 by snipers which we mentioned in a report we published about wounded in Syria.

Fadel Abdulghani, founder and head of SNHR, says: “anyone who contributed in selling sniping weapons to the Syrian regime and its militias is an actual partner in the crime of murder, which is classified as a crime against humanity, especially that the allies of the Syrian regime are completely aware that these weapons are being used to perpetrate such crimes.”

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Comparison of the civilians whom were killed by the Syrian regime and ISIS
Civilians killed by Syrian Regime 124752
Civilians killed by ISIS 831
Children killed by Syrian Regime 17139
Children killed by ISIS 137

We were pleased with UN Security Council Resolution 2139, issued on 22 February, 2014, as it stated to: “immediately cease all attacks against civilians” and explicitly expressed “its intent to take further steps in the case of non-compliance with this resolution”. But quickly we felt disappointed again in the UN Security Council after the horrific violations committed by the Syrian regime even after the resolution was adopted. The UN Security Council is still unable to take any further steps to deliver food aids at least which was excepted as the Resolution was issued in accordance with the sixth chapter of the UN Charter.
As a national Syrian independent Human Rights organization that documents the violations in Syria, the disregard on the Syrian regime part for the UN Security Council Resolutions, even Resolution 2118, issued on 27 September, 2013 in accordance with the seventh chapter of the UN Charter to disarm the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons was no surprise. We’ve documented more than 28 violation of this Resolution by the Syrian regime through using poison gases without any respond on the UN Security Council part

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Israeli forces have killed in its military campaign against Gaza strip 87 civilians including 19 children and 12 women at least. This high percentage (36%) demonstrates the use of excessive force and indiscriminate shelling to deliberately target civilians by Israel which can be classified openly as a war crime.

In the same period of time, Syrian government forces have killed more civilians as we documented the killing of no less than 134 civilians including 25 children, eight women, and 21 victims who died under torture.

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SNHR has documented the killing of 494 people
during the first week of Ramadan as follows.
First: Government Forces
SNHR has documented the killing of 369 civilians by government forces
A: Civilians
SNHR has documented the killing of 304 civilians, among them were 51 children (seven children a day), and 29 women at least. The number of victims who died under torture inside the government’s detention centers was 41 (As average, six people die under torture every day.)
The percentage of women and children victims is 27%; a clear indicator that government forces is deliberately targeting civilians.
B: Rebels
We also documented the killing of 65 rebels by government
forces either during clashes or under shelling.
Second: The armed factions affiliated to Al-Qaeda (ISIS)
ISIS has killed 80 people at least as follows:
A: Civilians
SNHR documented the killing of 13 civilians including four children and one lady
B: Rebels
We also documented the killing of 67 rebels at the hands of ISIS either during clashes between this group and other rebels or through field executions of prisoners.

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The Syrian regime’s vicious military campaign has been targeting Aleppo for about four months. Tens of victims are increasingly falling every day under the indiscriminate shelling of barrel bombs and missiles with no one to put a stop to this humanitarian tragedy.

The Security Council has adopted resolution 2139 unanimously on 22 February in which he demanded that all parties “cease immediately all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs.”. Nonetheless the resolution has not been implemented in the slightest and no further action has been taken.
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