Paris – Statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
 
The operation carried out by the US-led coalition forces on Thursday, February 3, 2022, which targeted a residential house consisting of two floors and a basement in the north of Atama village in the northern suburbs of Idlib, demonstrated that leaders and members of ISIS extremist organization might be deployed in many areas, including areas that have never been controlled by the organization, such as Atama village and others. We have documented dozens of occasions on which the organization took civilians as human shields and took cover among them in the areas it controlled. Raqqa city may be one of the most prominent examples of this, with SNHR highlighting the subject previously, revealing that ISIS confiscated many civilians’ homes under the pretext of the supposed “blasphemy” of their owners and the “confiscation” of their money, turning these homes into residences for its security and military leaders and living among civilians, most of whom the group referred to as infidels, while at the same time using them as human shields. ISIS has also used its own members’ families as human shields, including women and children.
 
We at the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) have documented the deaths of at least 3,048 civilians at the hands of the US-led coalition forces, including 925 children, since September 2014 up to the current date (in the last attack on the house where ISIS leader Abdullah Qardash was staying, we documented civilian casualties, including women and children; investigations are still underway to determine how this happened); many of these civilians were killed due to the US-led coalition forces’ failure to observe the principle of proportionality in international law, which is based on the attacking party’s carefully assessing the context before determining the legality or illegality of the attack. Any attack that will cause losses and damages exceeding the potential military advantage is prohibited, so a balance must always be maintained between the means, the goal, and the action results.
 
ISIS bears the responsibility of residing in civilian neighborhoods, which poses a threat to all these neighborhoods and bearing responsibility for endangering the families of its members. It should also be noted, however, that the Syrian regime, Russia, and Syrian Democratic Forces are all exploiting this situation to stigmatize entire areas as incubators for extremist organizations, in an attempt to give the appearance of being primarily concerned with combating terrorism and using this as justification for the indiscriminate or deliberately targeted bombing of residential areas, bearing in mind that the areas whose populations have been worst affected by extremist organizations have been those areas under the group’s control, whose residents have been subject to laws dating back to the most barbaric periods of the dark ages. Recently, we issued two reports on violations by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and ISIS against Syrian society, which highlight this issue.
 

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In its latest report, released today, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) asserts that the Security Council must act after 11 weeks of indiscriminate bombardment on Idlib governorate and its environs at the hands of Syrian-Russian alliance forces, in which 606 civilians, including 157 children, were killed.
 
The 23-page report reveals that Russia has applied the same techniques since the Syrian regime took control of the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo in December 2016, using on many occasions heavy and indiscriminate aerial bombardment, and on some occasions focused deliberate bombardment, of civilian neighborhoods, as well as continuing its blatant violations of the laws of war, encouraged by international silence or only the most feeble condemnation, with these strategies resulting after many days or months in gaining land and displacing civilians.
 
The report stresses that applying this technique has enabled the Syrian regime to control the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, then the Eastern Ghouta and the Syrian south. However, as the report details, the latest attack on Idlib governorate, the northern suburbs of Hama and the southwestern suburbs of Aleppo is characterized, compared to other areas, by the existence of a large population density of about three million Syrians, since most of the people in formerly liberated areas which are now controlled by the Syrian regime fled there. Also, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham’s seizing control of areas of Idlib governorate has undoubtedly increased the suffering of civilians since most of the civil society organizations there have ceased their provision of assistance, while Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has inflicted extremist and authoritarian practices against the people.
 
The report reveals that the military campaign on the Idlib area has seen the Syrian regime again using barrel and chemical, in addition to the extensive use of cluster and incendiary munitions, which caused property damage and the burning of thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
 
The details in the report show that the Syrian-Russian alliance forces did not abide by the cease-fire agreement, which entered into forces on June 12, 2019, with the report noting that these forces have continued to carry out their attacks and expand the areas they targeted by air raids, with these attacks extending to the outskirts of Idlib city, Ma’aret Misreen town and Saraqeb city in the northern suburbs of Idlib, and areas in the western suburbs of Aleppo; most were concentrated in the areas of northern suburbs of Hama and the southern suburbs of Idlib.
 
The report notes that according to statistics published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 330,000 people were displaced from the Idlib area between May 1 and June 13, 2019. The report estimates that at least 85,000 of those displaced live in primitive tents in the open, spread over agricultural lands and lacking the minimum basic elements of life
 
The report focuses on events in the fourth and final de-escalation zone (consisting of Idlib governorate and parts of the governorates of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia) and outlines the record of the most notable human rights violations following the military escalation by the Syrian-Russian alliance forces in the region from April 26, 2019, to July 12, 2019, as well as the record of violations committed following the announcement by the Russian Government of an alleged cease-fire on June 12.
 
The report documents the deaths of 606 civilians, including 157 children, 111 women (adult female), and 27 massacres, between April 26, 2019, and July 12, 2019, of whom the Syrian regime killed 521, including 136 children and 97 women, and committed 23 massacres, while Russian forces killed another 85, including 21 children and 14 women, and committed four massacres. The report notes that at least eight medical personnel, including one woman, were killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, in addition to four Civil Defense personnel killed at the hands of Russian forces.
 
As the report reveals, these attacks resulted in at least 294 attacks on vital civilian facilities, including 87 on schools, 62 on places of worship, 43 on medical facilities, 30 on Civil Defense facilities (centers and vehicles), 10 on markets, and four on IDPs camps, 211 of which were at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while 73 attacks were at the hands of Russian forces.
 
The report notes that at least 17 cluster munitions attacks were documented during the same period, with 16 of these carried out at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while the other was carried out at the hands of Russian forces. In addition to these attacks, 16 attacks using incendiary weapons were carried out at the hands of Syrian Regime forces. The report adds that the Syrian Regime air force, using both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, dropped at least 1,710 barrel bombs on the fourth de-escalation zone during the same period.
 
The report monitors the most notable human rights violations between June 12, the date of the cease-fire agreement, and July 12. The report documents the death of 217 civilians, including 57 children and 32 women (adult female), 194 of whom were killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, including 54 children and 31, while Russian forces killed 23 civilians, including three children and one woman. The report also documents at least nine massacres since June 12, all committed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces. The report adds that at least four medical personnel, including one woman, were killed since June 12, all at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while three Civil Defense personnel were killed in the same period, all at the hands of Russian forces.
According to the report, at least 66 attacks were carried out on vital civilian facilities from June 12, 2019, to July 12, 2019, including 16 on schools, 13 on places of worship, nine on medical facilities; 52 of these attacks were carried out by Syrian Regime forces, while the other 14 were carried out by Russian forces.
 
The report notes that the Syrian regime carried out eight cluster munitions attacks, in addition to one incendiary weapons attack, adding that the Syrian Regime air force, using both fixed-wing warplanes and helicopters, dropped at least 285 barrel bombs during the same period.
The report stresses that Syrian and Russian forces have violated several rules of international humanitarian law, primarily through their failure to discriminate between civilians and combatants, between civilian and military targets, bombing hospitals, schools, centers and civilian neighborhoods, with these violations amount to war crimes.
The report also emphasizes that launching a deliberate attack on medical personnel in the context of a non-international armed conflict is a war crime punishable by international humanitarian law and international criminal law (Articles 8 (2) (b), 24, 8 (2) (e) (2) of the Statute of the International Criminal Court).
 
The report further notes that displacement or forced displacement is another war crime in non-international armed conflicts when committed as part of a deliberate or widespread attack against the civilian population (Articles 8 (2) (b) (7) and 8 (2) (e) (8) of the Statute of the International Criminal Court) and may also be considered crimes against humanity (Articles 7 (1) (d) of the Statute of the International Criminal Court).
The report notes that Syrian-Russian alliance forces have violated the de-escalation zone agreement in all regions, including the Idlib region, and violated the Sochi Agreement that came into force in September 2018. In addition, Syrian Regime forces have practiced the crime of displacement in a systematic, widespread and organized manner, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and amounts to a crime against humanity under Article VII of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. We have not recorded any measures by these forces to provide shelter, health care or food to the displaced civilians.
 
The report calls on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to stabilize the ceasefire in Idlib and to include punitive measures for all violators of the cease-fire, to genuinely support the serious implementation of the peace process in Syria and to assist in achieving a just political transition that guarantees security and stability, to refer the Syrian issue to the International Criminal Court, to ensure that all those involved in these crimes are held accountable, to pass a resolution concerning enforced displacement, to ensure that this does not become a long-term crisis, to put pressure on the Syrian regime to end displacements, and to enact laws aimed at preventing the plunder of displaced persons’ properties and possessions.
 
The report urges the International Community to take action at both national and regional levels to form alliances to support the Syrian people in a way that can protect them from the daily killings, to lift the sieges and to increase support for relief efforts. Additionally, it urges that the principle of universal jurisdiction should be applied in local courts regarding these crimes.
 
The report calls for the implementation of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly, and to fulfil justice and achieve accountability in Syria through the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.
The report recommends that the OHCHR should submit a report to the Human Rights Council and other organs of the United Nations concerning the violations committed by the Syrian-Russian alliance forces.
 
The report calls on the UN Secretary General to clearly identify the perpetrators of violations, explaining that doing so will contribute to condemning their actions, exposing their practices and sending a message of solidarity to the affected community, while failing to clearly identify the perpetrators of these apparent violations encourages these and other perpetrators to commit more violations and to repeat them.
The report calls on the countries that support the parties to the conflict in Syria, especially Russia, to put pressure on their allies on the ground to ensure the neutrality of the Idlib area of combat operations, and to protect the lives of at least three million people living there.
 
The report stresses that the UN Envoy to Syria must condemn the perpetrators of the crimes and massacres and the main culprits in the collapse of agreements on de-escalation zones, and thus declare the collapse and the end of the political process in full, as well as holding the Syrian-Russian alliance to account for its actions, and to disclose to the Syrian people Russia’s pursuit of full control of Syrian territory by force, and its public desire to rehabilitate the current regime, which means the creation of a political solution which satisfies only its own interests.
 
The report calls on the donor countries and the UNOCHR to ensure basic living conditions, to pay attention to the needs of and help provide care for thousands of displaced Syrians who are displaced in the north-western Idlib suburbs.
Finally, the report calls on the Russian forces to stop committing all types of war crimes in Syria, to commit to the outcome of the Sochi Summit and not repeat the scenario of violations we have seen in the agreements of de-escalation zone, to stop supporting the war crimes and crimes against humanity which the Syrian regime has been committing, with the current support being considered as direct involvement in these crimes, to contribute to the assistance of displaced persons who were displaced by the Russian war machine from the Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus Suburbs governorate and the governorates of Homs and Daraa, and to protect the residents of those areas who remained from the arrests, persecution, kidnappings and enforced disappearances being perpetrated by the Syrian Regime and the Iranian militias.
 

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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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I- Introduction:
The Russian military intervention added insult to injury for Syrian people where it was supposed to alleviate one of the burdens characterized by ISIL and put an end to it according to Russian officials who criticized the deceleration of accomplishments on behalf of the International Coalition.
However, three months have passed since the Russian intervention and no clear signs of putting an end to ISIL are seen. 85-90% of the Russian air strikes were on regions under the control of armed opposition and often on densely populated areas, markets, neighborhoods, hospitals and vital facilities.

Additionally, the Russian air strikes targeted dozens of military regions for armed opposition groups which are fighting ISIL and the Syrian regime at the same time. We faced several difficulties in locating these targets and in recording the number of injured or killed individuals due to extreme secrecy on behalf of the armed opposition groups since to them this information is considered as military secrets. Therefore, what we were able to record is the bare minimum of what we were able to document. However, in some cases, SNHR’s teams were able to document the target of neighborhoods, markets and different vital facilities.

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