Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released its annual report in observance of International Women’s Day, March 8. In the report, which is entitled, ‘On International Women’s Day, Growing Protests and Worsening Access to Basic Rights for Women in Syria’, the group reveals that16,442 women have been killed in Syria since March 2011, while 21 incidents of violence against women, mostly for their activism, have been documented between March 2023 and March 2024.

The 25-page report focuses on the gross human rights violations committed against women (adult females) which have been perpetrated in a systematic way since March 2011 up until March 2024, in the context of the internal armed conflict and in violation of international human rights law. The six primary violations in this category are: Extrajudicial killing, unlawful detention, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, and sexual violence. Beside those, the report also sheds light on patterns of violence and assault that women and women activists suffer over their activists in the areas under the control of Syrian regime forces, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syrian National Army (SNA), and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), while detailing to some degree the contexts within which those patterns emerge, their types, and to what extent they differ from or resemble one another in terms of the parties to the conflict. To that end, the report documents and provides details on six different forms of violence recorded by SNHR in the last year – March 2023-March 2024.

Between March 2011 and March 2024, the report documents the deaths of at least 16,442 women (adult female) at the hands of the parties to the conflict in Syria, including 11,999 women killed by Syrian regime forces, who are responsible for 73 percent of all cases of extrajudicial killing involving women which further confirms that the Syrian regime has been deliberately targeting and killing women. Meanwhile, Russian forces killed 983 women, while ISIS killed 587 women. Furthermore, the HTS were responsible for 82 women’s deaths, whereas all armed opposition factions (SNA) killed 886 women. Lastly, 117 women were killed by the SDF, 658 by the US-led International Coalition forces, and 1,070 were killed by other parties.

As the report further reveals, no fewer than 10,205 of the women arrested/detained at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces since March 2011 up until March 2024 are still imprisoned/forcibly disappeared. Of this total, 8,497 women were arrested by the Syrian regime, 225 by ISIS, 45 by HTS, 879 by all armed opposition factions (SNA), and 529 by the SDF. In other words, the Syrian regime has been responsible for about 83 percent of all documented arrests and enforced disappearances, far more than all the other parties to the conflict separately or combined. This indicates that the Syrian regime has been hunting down, arresting/detaining, and disappearing women for various motives in a calculated, deliberate manner.

Relatedly, the report documents the deaths of 115 women due to torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since March 2011 up until March 2024. Of those 115 women, 95 were killed by regime forces, while 14 were killed by ISIS. The SDF and the SNA were responsible for two deaths each, while HTS and other parties were responsible for one death each. Additionally, among the women who died under torture were 11 who were identified in the photos of victims who died due to torture at the hands of regime forces that were leaked by a former regime military photographer, commonly known as the ‘Caesar Photos,’ and 21 women who were registered by the regime as dead in the civil registry records.

In the same period, the report documents at least 10,063 incidents of sexual violence against women at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since March 2011 up until 2024. Syrian regime forces were responsible for 7,576 of these incidents, while ISIS was responsible for 2,451 of them. The report adds that 16 incidents of sexual violence were committed by the SDF, 19 by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and one by HTS. In this context, the report notes that, according to these figures, the Syrian regime is responsible for at least 75 percent of all incidents recorded, followed by ISIS, with both of these parties using sexual violence as a strategic weapon of war and instrument of torture and retaliation against Syrian society.

The report further stresses that humanitarian needs have been rising steadily since the beginning of 2023, not least because of the February 6 Earthquakes that devastated large areas of Syria, whose effects have yet to be fully and properly addressed to this day. In addition to this crisis, there are the compounded and continuing effects of 13 years of military offensives which include vast numbers of civilian deaths, the displacement of millions of people, and unimaginable devastation to infrastructure and vital facilities. This suffering has all been dramatically exacerbated by the shocking decision by the World Food Programme (WFP) to largely reduce its humanitarian assistance across the country, while other international humanitarian organizations are also ending their projects, which are primarily supported by the UN agencies, and which target various sectors such as healthcare, education, water, and shelter. Tragically, we are already seeing the effects and implications of these continued reductions with respect to the humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 2024, particularly among women and children who are more dramatically affected by the worsening conditions, as their already greatly limited ability to address their basic needs is seriously compromised.

Besides this rapid humanitarian deterioration, many areas in Syria have seen an escalation in the number of military offensives in the last year (March 2023-March 2024). SNHR has documented the killing of at least 132 women in the military attacks carried out in Syria since March 2023 up until March 2024, noting that these attacks have also resulted in the displacement of thousands more civilians, mostly women and children. With new displacements being documented to this day, IDPs are still struggling to obtain adequate support from local humanitarian organizations and UN bodies, which further adversely affects their ability to meet their basic needs, especially in light of waning support. This is taking place in areas that are already suffering from rapidly falling levels of humanitarian support. Under such conditions, women are enduring unbearable conditions, facing double burdens to secure their basic needs and those of their families.

Meanwhile, the report records no fewer than 21 incidents of assault and intimidation against women mostly over their activism between March 2023 and March 2024, noting that women are facing multi-faceted challenges including restrictions on basic freedoms and denial of employment opportunities These attacks seem to have deliberately targeted women activists working in civil society and local service institutions, in addition to women who are active in sectors such as the media, politics, and human rights. As we have also documented, many of these women have faced restrictions, harassment, and intimidation over their activism, especially in regard to activities serving other women. These violations range from threats and assaults in public places, to attacks on their homes. Some women activists have also been summoned to security facilities for questioning, where they’ve faced various accusations, including scurrilous allegations related to their personal moral conduct, which can have a deeply harmful effect on one’s social standing. The aim of such accusations has been to blackmail these women and tarnish their image. Some extreme cases have even led to women activists being murdered. In addition, many women have been subjected to assaults or violence while travelling between areas controlled by different parties, or when they tried to stop raids on their houses by the various parties to the conflict. In the course of these attacks, many women have sustained physical injuries, some of them serious.

The report calls on the parties to the conflict and controlling forces to respect the rules of customary international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and end all forms of discrimination against women. The report also calls for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained women, particularly those detained in relation to the armed conflict. Furthermore, the report calls on all parties to the conflict to launch comprehensive investigations into all violations and acts of violence against women and hold those responsible for crimes accountable according to an independent judicial body and in line with rules that take into consideration international law, while also beginning to compensate victims and enacting reparations for the damages that have occurred. Parties to the conflict must also ensure that women have protection and security in their work and movement, and provide support for women, and end all forms of restrictions and limitation of freedoms, as well as supporting women’s efforts to resist the violence perpetrated against them, and working to alleviate the conflict’s economic and social ramifications on their lives.

The report calls on the international community and the UN Security Council to ensure protection and assistance for forcibly displaced women, including women IDPs and refugees, to pay attention to their special needs, particularly with relation to protection, and to take all measures possible, legally, politically, and financially, against the Syrian regime and its allies, and all perpetrators of violations in the Syrian conflict, in order to apply pressure on them to respect women’s rights. Steps must be also taken to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC), or establish a tribunal for trying crimes against humanity and war crimes as soon as possible, in order to put an end to the climate of impunity in which such crimes have been perpetrated for over a decade in Syria.

The report also makes a number of additional recommendations.

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Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released its latest report entitled, ‘Unshakable Voices’, in which it sheds light on Syrian women and their plight in detention, and how they overcame the tribulations they encountered following their release.

The report shines a light on the most notable challenges faced by Syrian women, who continue, despite all they’ve endured, to play a key role in the struggle for freedom and dignity, achieving in the process some outstanding success stories. To that end, the report contains eight first-hand accounts from women victims and survivors from the governorates of Homs, Hama, Latakia, Rural Damascus ‘Rif Dimshaq’, Damascus, Deir Ez-Zour, and Suwayda. Some of these women have sought asylum in Europe, while other live in Türkiye or are still in Syria. All of these women have played a unique and prominent role in the service of their communities, despite being brutalized by the Syrian regime’s monstrous machine of arbitrary arrest, torture, sexual violence, and enforced disappearance, all because of the dynamic, constructive roles they’ve played since the beginning of the popular uprising for democracy in March 2011.

The report records that that no fewer than 10,197 of the women arrested by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and December 31, 2023, are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared. Of these, 8,493 women are still detained/forcibly disappeared at the hands of Syrian regime forces, while 255 women are still detained/forcibly disappeared by ISIS. Meanwhile, 45 women are still detained/forcibly disappeared by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), whereas 878 women are still detained/forcibly disappeared by all armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA). Lastly, 526 women are still detained/forcibly disappeared by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The report further stresses that the Syrian regime is responsible for at least 83 percent of the total number of arrests and enforced disappearances involving women compared to the other parties to the conflict. This suggests that the Syrian regime has been persecuting, pursuing, arresting/detaining, and forcibly disappeared women, for various motives, in a calculated and deliberate manner.

The report also reveals that 115 women have been documented as dying due to torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and December 31, 2023. The report notes that 2015 was the worst in terms of the number of women’s deaths due to torture. with all women’s deaths due to torture documented that year being at the hands of regime forces and ISIS. The next worst years in terms of numbers were 2012 then 2022, with the Syrian regime being the only party responsible for women’s deaths due to torture in both those years. Furthermore, the report documents at least 21 of the women forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces were later registered as dead in the civil registry records between 2018 and December 31, 2023. Similarly, the report documents that at least 11 of the women forcibly disappeared by regime forces were identified from the photos leaked from regime military hospitals, known as the ‘Caesar’ photos, between 2015 and December 31, 2023.

The report also records no fewer than 10,060 incidents of sexual violence against women between March 2011 and December 31, 2023, stressing that the Syrian regime has been responsible for approximately 75 percent of cases of sexual violence recorded, followed by ISIS. This can be explained by the fact that both parties have used sexual violence as a weapon of war and retaliation to intimidate society. The two parties are followed by all armed opposition factions/SNA and the SDF who used sexual violence in a discriminatory way to extort the victims and their families.

As the report further reveals, the arrests carried out by Syrian regime forces are performed in several ways. For one, the report details, women have been arrested at checkpoints and crossings or while travelling between cities. Women have also been targeted in ambushes, while others have been arrested in raids on their homes, places of residence, workplaces, or at universities where they’re studying, or in regime attacks on dissident activities such as demonstrations and protests. Women have also been arrested while carrying out humanitarian work, such as tending wounded people or assisting IDPs, or abducted in the street or other public places, while others have been arrested after being summoned to security branches for questioning. Similarly, some women have been arrested when they went to visit relatives imprisoned in regime detention centers. Finally, some women have been arrested while attempting to flee areas besieged by regime forces, being detained as they passed through regime checkpoints. Moreover, the report notes that women have been detained over their involvement in activism and participation in peaceful demonstrations calling for political change, as well as their involvement in various civil, media, and human rights activities. As mentioned above, women have also been arrested while carrying out essential humanitarian work, including providing aid for IDPs, wounded people, children, and affected families. The report also stresses that the plight of arbitrary arrest does not end with the targeted women being released from detention centers. Rather, the suffering continues beyond the detention itself, as those women suffer multiple violations and face additional challenges in their lives. In that, the report pinpoints at least 14 main types of violations and challenges faced by women survivors following their release. Most of those women suffered at least four of these violations and challenges all in together.

By shining a light on some women’s success stories, the report shows that Syrian women have cemented their legacy in the uprising through their active participation despite facing numerous social, political, and legal challenges. This continuing involvement has been a crucial contribution to the fight for freedom and respect for all human rights. In turn, the report further underscores, there is a need at the community and political level to acknowledge women’s unique contributions and accomplishments.

The report stresses that the Syrian regime, who by far has committed the largest percentage of the totality of violations in the Syrian conflict, has violated many articles concerning women, such as those included in the Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Conventions, including the prohibition of “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture… outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment,” and “rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault…”. The report also proves that there has been discrimination against women manifesting in a number of practices, which contravenes the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which outlines the rules states must adhere to, in order to protect women against the negative effects of discrimination. Those practices also constitute a violation of Security Council resolution 1325.

The report calls on the Syrian regime to respect its obligations to the CEDAW agreement, implement the General recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including General recommendation No. 30, respect the two International Covenants on Human Rights as well as the Geneva Convention, and as such cease the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The report also calls on all the parties to the conflict to immediately release all arbitrarily detained women, particularly those detained in relation to the armed conflict. The parties to the conflict must also respect international laws on detaining underage girls, including separating them from men, inspection, and designating women guards, as well as respecting the protocols on inspecting prisoners when entering detention to internally report incidents of sexual violence.

Meanwhile, the report calls on the international community and the UN Security Council to apply pressure on all parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria to release arbitrary detained women and forcibly disappeared women, ensure protection and assistance for forcibly displaced women, including women IDPs and refugees, and to pay attention to their special needs, particularly with relation to protection, in addition to making other recommendations.

Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released its 12^th annual report on violations against females in Syria, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The report notes that no fewer than 28,926 females have been killed in Syria since March 2011, including 117 who died due to torture, while 11,203 are still detained/arrested, with SNHR also documenting 11,541 incidents of sexual violence committed against females. It should be stressed that the vast majority of all these violations were perpetrated by Syrian regime forces.

The 62-page report notes that, over the past 13 years, women in Syria have been consistently and repeatedly subjected to a wide range of gross violations. This has not been the only trauma women have suffered, it notes, with thousands of women also facing insurmountable challenges over their involvement in activism, or, on a more basic level, in obtaining their most essential rights and needs amid the numerous horrific violations committed by the parties to the conflict.

The report draws upon the evidence contained on SNHR’s database, which is the result of our daily monitoring and documentation activities conducted since March 2011, and which encompasses violations of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance and torture, recruitment, sexual violence, attacks that saw the use of various weapons, and attacks on vital civilian facilities. The report outlines the most notable violations committed by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria against females between March 2011 and November 25, 2023, as documented on SNHR’s database. The report also compares the toll of violations recorded in last year’s annual report on women with this year’s total, in order to show whether rates of violations have increased, decreased, or stayed the same across the different type of violations.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR Executive Director, says:
“In documenting the violations and difficulties faced by Syrian women, our aim is not to simply chronicle the massive suffering they’ve borne, or to recount their often unimaginably extraordinary endurance. The reports we release are also a message to the international community, the UN Security Council, and women’s rights organization around the world urging them to exert far more serious effort to alleviate the plight of Syria’s women and empower them to handle the exceptional challenges they face in Syria.”

The report stresses that females in Syria have been subjected to multiple and repeated patterns of violations that vary in their severity and geographic distribution, and in their current and future ramifications on females of all ages in Syria. Relatedly, the report focuses on the gross human rights violations committed against females, which have been perpetrated in a systematic way. These seven primary violations are: Extrajudicial killing; unlawful detention, arbitrary arrest, abduction, and enforced disappearance; torture; sexual violence; child recruitment; attacks on vital facilities, such as schools, and medical facilities, such as hospitals, and the obstruction or denial of humanitarian assistance. In addition to these seven gross violations, the report sheds light on other violations related to protection of females such as the judicial and security procedures related to proving ownership, registering deaths, and the gender dimension of a number of laws and legislative articles involving discriminatory practices that affect women. Moreover, the report reveals, female activists have faced slander and intimidation, which has grown dramatically worse due to the continuing conflict.

The report documents the killing of 28,926 women and girls at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011, and November 25, 2023, with 22,061 of these female victims killed at the hands of Syrian regime forces, while 1,608 others were killed by Russian forces. In addition, a total of 981 females were killed by ISIS, and 87 were killed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Furthermore, the report reveals that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were responsible for killing 279 females, while all armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA) killed 1,324 females. Lastly, 961 females were killed in attacks by international coalition forces, while 1,625 children were killed by other parties. Analysis of these figures shows that the Syrian regime has been responsible for approximately 77 percent of all extrajudicial killings of females. According to the accumulated death toll, 2013 saw the highest documented death toll among females, followed by 2012, then 2014, and then 2015.

With regard to arrest/detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, the report notes that no fewer than 11,203 females are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces as of November 25, 2023, divided as follows: 8,962 females are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, 49 by HTS, 921 by SDF, and 971 by all armed opposition factions/SNA. The report adds that 276 of the females who are still forcibly disappeared were arrested by ISIS before the group became defunct for the most part in Syria. The report further notes that, according to the accumulated toll, 2015 was the worst year in terms of arrests/detentions and enforced disappearances involving females, with 78 percent of all arrests in that year made by Syrian regime forces.

The report documents the deaths of 117 females due to torture in Syria since March 2011, including 79 who died in Syrian regime detention centers, while 14 died in ISIS detention centers, two died in SDF detention centers, and two died in armed opposition/SNA detention centers. Lastly, one female died due to torture at the hands of other parties.

As the report further reveals, Syrian regime forces have targeted females due to their gender. Arresting and detaining females is generally employed as a means of imposing control over an area and ensuring the local population’s submission. In addition to being targeted for their gender, the report reveals that females have also been targeted for their involvement in political activities and activism, such as participating in the peaceful demonstrations calling for political change, as well as in various forms of civilian, media, and human rights activism. In many cases, females have also been arrested due either to their own sect or ethnicity or to affiliation with a certain area, sect, or ethnicity while passing through checkpoints, or when visiting government institutions. These arrests have exhibited a retaliatory character, forming part of a policy of collective punishment, or being intended to extort, pressure, and persecute the victims’ families. Moreover, the report reveals that, from the beginning of 2018 up until November 25, 2023, SNHR has documented that no fewer than 23 of the women forcibly disappeared in regime detention centers have been registered as dead in the civil registry’s records. The cause of death has not been revealed in any of these cases, while the victims’ bodies have not been returned to the families, and their deaths were not publicly registered at the time they took place.

The report also sheds light on the Syrian regime’s use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and an instrument of punishment in order to spread mass fear and to force residents to flee ahead of raids. Sexual violence has also been routinely used by regime forces as a method of torture, retaliation, and intimidation. Given the practice of sexual violence on such a wide scale, it is very clear that this is happening with the implicit approval of the officers in charge of the regime’s security services and armed forces who authorize such practices. The report outlines the most common patterns of sexual violence by regime forces, adding that these forces committed no fewer than 8,019 incidents of sexual violence including about 881 incidents that took place in detention centers, and no fewer than 443 cases of sexual violence against girls under the age of 18.

The report adds that attacks targeting medical facilities have had dangerous ramifications for females. These consequences are made more serious and compounded by the fact that most of these facilities have been deliberately targeted in attacks that resulted in massive casualties among female patients, staff, and health workers. Destroying medical facilities has also suspended or stopped healthcare provision to females in the affected areas, which meant that many girls and women have lost access to basic healthcare which they need to survive. Moreover, military operations have temporarily put medical facilities out of commission, which also had serious consequences. The report documents no fewer than 555 attacks on medical facilities at the hands of regime forces, putting most of them out of commission, while Russian forces carried out no fewer than 209 attacks on medical facilities since the launch of their military intervention on September 30, 2015, up until November 25, 2023. Furthermore, theSDF carried out 12 attacks on medical facilities, while HTS carried out two attacks. Finally, armed opposition factions have been responsible for no fewer than 15 attacks on medical facilities between March 2011 and November 25, 2023.

The report also reveals that in addition to the SDF’s other extrajudicial abuses of females, the SDF group have also detained females. Females in SDF detention centers suffer incredibly poor conditions and are subjected to various methods of torture. It is also not uncommon for females to be mistreated on the basis of their ethnicity in SDF detention centers, where they are deprived of healthcare and food. Moreover, those detained are not charged with any specific charges or subject to a trial until they have already suffered long periods of detention that may last for months or even years.

Also on the subject of the SDF, the report adds that, through military recruitment and conscription, the SDF has used females, including female children, to reinforce its military forces and assert control over the areas under its control. Juvenile girls are a key element of the SDF. This military recruitment and conscription are a key part of a systematic, established policy carried out under the supervision of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In this context, the report documents no fewer than 281 cases of underage girls being recruited or conscripted by the SDF. No fewer than eight of these juvenile female conscripts have been killed in battle, while about 164 others have been discharged, with 109 girls still actively serving with the SDF.

The report adds that SDF personnel have carried out many acts of sexual violence against females in the group’s detention centers, female recruitment centers checkpoints, reception centers and camps under the group’s protection and supervision. To that end, the report records that, as of November 25, 2023, we have documented no fewer than 17 incidents of sexual violence at the hands of SDF.

The report reveals that female detainees held in HTS detention centers are also subjected to harsh detention conditions, ranging from being denied any opportunity to contact their families to intimidation, threats, and serious accusations during interrogation. HTS uses various methods of torture in its detention centers, which are extremely similar to those employed by the Syrian regime in its detention centers.

The report also provides a summary of the violations perpetrated by the armed opposition/SNA, noting that females have been detained and abducted by armed opposition factions/SNA in a widespread manner in recent years. The contexts and motives of these incidents vary depending on the current situation on the ground and developments concerning those factions, such as changes in territorial control, or even the dissolution of many of the groups involved in those practices. However, the same practices of targeting females have persisted. These practices were also difficult to make sense of since there is no real framework governing the armed opposition’s practices, and there is also no independent judiciary that oversees such operations in a transparent and clear way.

The report also sheds light on campaigns of threats and slander against woman activists all over Syria, noting that there have been various types of campaigns and attacks against female activists, including verbal violence and threats of physical violence, that have been directly targeted at them or sent indirectly through text messages. There have also been cases in which female activists have been the victims of slander or have endured sensitive personal information on them being published or promoted on social media or in other public settings. In many other cases, women have been summoned to the security headquarters of the various controlling forces, and faced accusations impugning their morality or attacking their dignity, or even been publicly molested. For instance, the report records that many women who were involved in the anti-regime protests in Suwayda governorate, which have been going on since August 2023, have been the victims of slander campaigns, as well as threats and been subjected to societal and security services’ pressure, all with the objective of driving them to cease their activism. The report adds that HTS, through its institutions, has also issued a number of discriminatory decisions against females in areas under its control, including the imposition of policies such as gender segregation in universities and banning women from studying certain majors in the universities under its control. The group has also imposed a dress code on women and limited their personal freedom.

The report concludes that all the parties to the conflict in Syria have failed to engage in the proper treatment of women, as defined by international law and Rule 134 of customary international humanitarian law. Furthermore, the parties to the conflict in Syria, particularly the Syrian regime which is responsible for the vast majority of violations in the conflict, have violated many legal articles regarding women, as included in Protocol II additional to the Geneva Convention, adopted in 1977.

This report also shows that patterns of discrimination against women have been exhibited in a range of practices, which constitute violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which established all the articles that states must implement to protect women from the negative effects resultant from discrimination. In addition, such practices constitute a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

The report stresses that among the violations outlined that have been perpetrated by the Syrian regime in the form of widespread and systematic attacks in a way that qualifies them as crimes against humanity are: murder, torture, rape, and enforced displacement.

The report adds that among the violations outlined in this report that have been perpetrated by the Syrian regime, as well as the other parties to the conflict, in a way that qualifies them as war crimes are: sexual violence, violence to life, particularly murder in its different forms, mutilation, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity.

The report recommends that the international community provide protection and assistance for forcibly displaced females, both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, particularly girls, and respect their specific needs, most importantly protection.

Moreover, the report calls for providing sufficient resources to enable the rehabilitation of female survivors, particularly victims of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage. This includes establishing institutions to protect and care for female victims who have suffered exclusion from their families and communities. The report also makes a number of other recommendations.

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Press release: (Download the full report below)

Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released its latest annual report marking International Women’s Day, March 8, entitled, ‘On International Women’s Day, the Devastating Earthquake that Hit Northwestern Syria Has Exacerbated the Dire Situation of Women, With No Fewer than 35,000 Women Losing Their Homes in the Earthquake’, noting that the parties to the conflict are still committing violations against women working in the public sphere.
The 21-page report outlines the patterns of violence and assaults documented as having been carried out against women and women activists due to their work and activism in the areas controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syrian National Army (SNA), and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the context of these patterns, their types, and the similarities and differences among the different parties. To that end, the report summarizes the statistics gathered by SNHR in the year since March 2022 up until March 2023, focusing on seven specific forms of violence against women due to their activism, as well as on gender-based killings. The report also outlines the toll from the most notable violations by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria against women (adult females) between March 2011 and March 2023, as part of the armed conflict or as violations of international humanitarian law.
Between March 2011 and March 2023, the report documents the killing of 16,298 women (adult female) by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria, including 11,957 women killed by Syrian regime forces, who are responsible for nearly 74 percent of all cases of extrajudicial killing of women compared to all the other parties the conflict, which suggests that the Syrian regime’s killing of women is wholly deliberate. Moreover, Russian forces were responsible for the killing of 977 women, while ISIS and HTS killed 587 and 79 women respectively in the same period. According to the records documented on SNHR’s database, all armed opposition factions/SNA were responsible for the killing of 885 women during this period, while 169 women were killed by SDF, and 658 women were killed by the international coalition forces. Finally, 986 women were killed by other parties.
As the report further reveals, a total of 10,169 of the women arrested or detained since 2011 by Syrian regime forces and all other parties to the conflict and controlling forces are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared at the hands of these parties. Of this total, 8,473 women were detained by Syrian regime forces, while 255 were detained by ISIS, 44 by HTS, 873 by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and 524 by the SDF. Analysis of the data shows that the Syrian regime is responsible for nearly 83 percent of all arrests and enforced disappearances involving women in comparison to the other parties to the conflict. Such a high figure suggests that the Syrian regime has been persecuting, arresting, and detaining females under various pretexts in a wholly deliberate and calculated manner.
On a related note, the report reveals that no fewer than 113 women have been documented as dying due to torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria. Of this total, 94 women died at the hands of Syrian regime forces, while ISIS was responsible for the deaths of 14 women due to torture. Meanwhile, the SDF and all armed opposition factions/SNA were responsible for two women’s deaths due to torture, while one woman died due to torture at the hands of other parties. SNHR’s database show that among the women who died due to torture at the hands of Syrian regime forces was one whose photo appeared in what are known as the Caesar photos, with 21 of the women detained by the regime registered as dead in the state’s civil registry.
In the same period, the report documents no fewer than 11,532 incidents of sexual violence against females, including 8,016 incidents at the hands of Syrian regime forces and 3,487 incidents at the hands of ISIS. The report adds that SDF was responsible for 13 such incidents, while all armed opposition factions/SNA were responsible for 16. In this context, the report stresses that Syrian regime forces and ISIS have used sexual violence as a strategic weapon of war and a tool of torture and retaliation against Syrian society.
As the report further reveals, the earthquake that hit multiple areas in Syria and Southern Turkey at around dawn on Monday February 6, 2023, left no fewer than 35,000 women in Syria homeless. These women’s homes were either damaged and/or destroyed in the earthquake and are now completely uninhabitable. Even worse, most of these women had already previously experienced displacement on multiple occasions. Most of these displacements were concentrated in the region of northwestern Syria outside the Syrian regime’s control, and in nearby areas. The report adds that a total of 1,524 women died as a result of the earthquake and of the late arrival of UN and international aid between February 6 and February 27, 2023. The victims included 13 female staff with humanitarian groups, 22 female medical personnel, and one female Civil Defense (White Helmets) worker. The effects of the earthquake have exacerbated the existing suffering of the women affected, who have found themselves facing additional challenges as a consequence.
The report also outlines the patterns of documented violations against women, particularly activists and working women, in northeastern and northwestern Syria due to their activism and during the performance of their professional duties, whether these are in the service, humanitarian, political, media, or specialist women-oriented fields, or even during raids and military operations. The report documents no fewer than 86 incidents of assault and intimidation targeting women by the parties to the conflict. Those violations have caused serious physical and psychological harm to women, driving some to leave their areas, give up work altogether, limit their activism, or flee to other areas to escape the threats and intimidation against them.
The report also sheds light on domestic violence and gender-based violence against women, stressing that such violations have not stopped throughout the armed conflict. Indeed, the report stresses that those violations have increased against displaced women already affected by conflict and humanitarian crises, to the point of women being murdered, primarily due to what are colloquially known as “Honor Killings”. Such crimes, the report adds, are a reflection on the weakness or absence of effective protection mechanisms due to the fragility of the legal and judicial structures regulating women’s rights. Between March 2022 and March 2023, the report documents no fewer than 16 incidents of violence against women, including two cases of gender-motivated murder of women at the hands of their families or spouses, most of which were carried out under the pretext of ‘honor’, or because of the women’s refusal to enter into a forced marriage, or as a result of domestic violence by men.
The report further notes that the Syrian regime, which controls all aspects of the Syrian state, was the first party to violate international human rights law and international humanitarian law and to practice many types of widespread violations against women, including killing, torture, and enforced disappearance, with the other parties to the conflict following in its footsteps, though never on the same massive scale, to varying degrees. The report adds that many of the practices that are based on laws and regulations put in place by the parties to the conflict violate women’s rights in ways that conflict with the international standards for human rights.
This report also emphasizes that dozens of the basic rights of women are being violated, foremost among which are the rights to life, to not being tortured, arbitrarily arrested, or forcibly disappeared, to freedom of movement, clothing, freedom of opinion and expression, work, and other rights. Enhancing the role of women and protecting them from violence and violations, including their right to political and media work and to freedom of expression and opinion, will reflect positively on the whole of society, as all of these factors are essential in the pursuit of equality and development.
The report calls on all the parties to the conflict and controlling forces to respect the rules of customary international humanitarian law and of international human rights law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and to end all forms of discrimination against women. Furthermore, all parties to the conflict should immediately release forcibly detained women, particularly those detained in the context of the armed conflict, abide by international laws on the detention of women and girls, including segregation from male prisoners, appoint female guards and security personnel to conduct searches, and implement appropriate protocols for searching prisoners upon entering custody to allow female detainees to report incidents of sexual violence. The report further calls on the parties to the conflict and controlling forces to conduct investigations into the perpetrators of violations and violence against women, hold them accountable in accordance with an independent judicial system and with provisions that take into account international laws, and begin the process of paying compensation and reparations to victims. The report also stresses that the parties to the conflict and controlling forces should provide protection and security for women’s work and movement, provide them with support, end all forms of restrictions and suppression of freedoms, support the efforts made by women in combating violence against them, and mitigate the economic and social repercussions that the conflict imposes on their lives.
The report additionally calls on the international community and the Security Council to provide protection and assistance to forcibly displaced women, including IDPs and refugees, taking into account their specific needs, primarily for protection. It further calls on the international community and the Security Council to take all possible legal, political, and financial measures against the Syrian regime and its allies, as well as against all perpetrators of violations in the Syrian conflict, to pressure them to commit to respecting the rights of women, and should refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, or quickly establish a tribunal dedicated to trying crimes against humanity and war crimes to end the cycle of impunity that has extended for over a decade in Syria, in addition to making other recommendations.

Download the full report

Press Release:

Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has released its 11th annual report on violations against females in Syria. Published on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the report reveals that no fewer than 28,761 females have been killed in Syria since March 2011, including 94 due to torture, while 11,141 females are still arrested/detained. In addition, 11,526 incidents of sexual violence against females have been documented, noting that most of these violations were at the hands of the Syrian regime.
The 44-page report notes that Syria’s women have been an active and present force in all phases of the popular uprising for freedom that began in March 2011. They have left an impactful mark on crucial aspects of the uprising’s trajectory. Indeed, women still have a significant presence in the fields of human rights, humanitarian relief, and media. For this participation, many women have suffered violations, either because of their own activism or due to that of their husbands, or relatives. In some cases, the impact of those violations has been compounded.
Since many of the patterns of violations against women taking place in the context of the armed conflict and at the hands of the controlling forces as well as many of the instances of discrimination against women have yet to be addressed, the report shows accumulative figures which clearly illustrate the yearly deterioration in conditions, even if the number of violations is lower than previous years, as the accumulated total toll of violations is still rising. For instance, while a number of detained or forcibly disappeared females have been released, the actual number of females in both these categories has increased. This is also applicable, more or less, to the other types of violations against women.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR director, says:
“This report should be a reminder of the sheer severity of the violations against women in Syria. It is imperative to remember that neither these violations nor their agonizing ramifications have been addressed, even though women’s basic rights are being violated by all the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria, of which by far the worst is the Syrian regime, which has forcibly disappeared thousands of women, who suffer the most horrible forms of torture. Prompt and decisive steps must be taken to bring about the release of all the Syrian women who have been arbitrarily detained.”
the report draws upon the SNHR’s archive that have been built through the daily and ongoing monitoring of violations that include extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, recruitment, sexual violence, and attacks using the various types of weapons since March 2011. The report provides an outline of the most notable violations against females at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2022, according to SNHR’s database.
The report adds that while women in Syria have experienced various patterns of violations, all of which have displayed a violent and repeated nature, these differ in their severity and commonness, and in their current and future ramifications on Syrian females. The report focuses particularly on the gross and life-threatening violations as determined by the UN Security Council. Naturally, the killing of females is classified as the primary and most dangerous violation perpetrated against females in Syria, more especially considering the significantly high numbers of female victims. The second most dangerous violation perpetrated against females is arrest/abduction which goes on to become enforced disappearance in the overwhelming majority of cases, and then torture and sexual violence. The report also focuses on the conscription of female children, assaults on females, and the persecution of females at the hands of the parties to the conflict.
The report documents the killing of 28,761 females at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011, and November 25, 2022, with 22,008 of these female victims killed at the hands of Syrian regime forces, while 1,602 females were killed by Russian forces. In addition, a total of 981 females were killed by ISIS, and 85 were killed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Furthermore, the report adds that Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was responsible for the killing of 269 females, while all armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA) killed 1,323 females. Lastly, 961 females were killed in attacks by international coalition forces, while 1,532 children were killed by other parties. Analyzing those figures shows that the Syrian regime has been responsible for 78 percent of all extrajudicial killings of females. According to the accumulated death toll, 2013 saw the highest documented death toll among females, followed by 2012, then 2014, and then 2015.

With regard to arrest/detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, the report notes that no fewer than 11,141 females are still under arrest/detention and/or enforced disappearance at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces, divided as follows: 8,935 females are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, 48 children by HTS, 921 children by SDF, and 961 children by all armed opposition factions/SNA. The report adds that 276 of the females who are still forcibly disappeared were arrested by ISIS before the group became defunct for the most part in Syria. The report further notes that, according to the accumulated toll, 2015 was the worst in terms of arrests/detentions and enforced disappearances involving females, with 78 percent of all arrests in that year made by Syrian regime forces.
The report records that 94 females have died due to torture in Syria since March 2011, including 75 females who died in Syrian regime detention centers, while 14 died in ISIS detention centers, two died in SDF detention centers, two died in detention centers for the armed opposition/SNA. Lastly, one female has died due to torture at the hands of other parties.
According to the report, Syrian regime forces show no regard for females’ nature or needs at their detention centers. In that, females suffer the same detention conditions that their male counterparts endure. By the same token, females have been subjected to the same forms of torture as males. The report notes that in many cases, women were arrested with their children, while other cases saw women pregnant get arrested, only adds to the suffering of women, with pregnant women in detention denied the most basic medical and nutritional needs, as well as their needs and the needs of their children. Children are also subjected to the same conditions endured by the mothers during the entirety of the detention duration. The report records no fewer than 167 incidents where children were arrested with their mothers between March 2011 and November 25, 2022, and at least 91 cases of childbirth during detention in the same period, in all of which cases the women suffered the absence of any post-natal medical care and were denied the most basic nutritional, medicinal, medical, and psychological requirements. As a result, seven of the 91 newborn children whose births in detention we documented died soon after being born.
Furthermore, the report notes that the Syrian regime has used sexual violence as a weapon of war against its enemies and as a cruel, yet effective, method of torture. Sexual violence was also used by the Syrian regime to spread fear and indignation among the male and female detainees. The report adds that sexual violence was used by regime forces on sectarian basis or in a retaliatory sense, depending on the role that a certain female detainee had played in the popular uprising for democracy. In other cases, the report notes, female detainees suffered sexual extortion in return for basic certain goods and services, such as food and water. The report outlines the most notable forms of sexual violence practiced by the regime forces, stressing that regime forces have committed no fewer than 8,014 incidents of sexual violence, including 879 incidents taking place in detention centers, while 443 cases involved girls below the age of 18.
Additionally, the report notes that SDF has, besides their extrajudicial killing crimes, practiced conscription in a widespread manner within its territories. In that, the group targeted both adult females and female children who were forced to join its ranks, thereby depriving them of education. In this context, the report documents no fewer than 102 girls who have been recruited by and are still active with SDF since the group’s foundation. The report adds that SDF has practiced multiple forms of sexual violence against females, either in its detention centers or in the camps run by the group. To that end, the report has recorded no fewer than 13 incidents of sexual violence by SDF as of November 25, 2022.
The report also sheds light on practices of persecution and assaults against females by the SDF, particularly women calling for their rights to work and freedom of expression, as well as female activists and women active with civil society organization in the SDF’s territories.
As regards HTS, the report stresses that Syrian women suffer from negative discriminatory practices in the group’s territories, with restrictions on freedom of movement and clothing being only one aspect of that. In fact, discrimination against women in those areas exceed such practices by far. Women’s suffering is only compounded if they were working, or wish to be involved in the public sphere or with civil society organization. The report records that many women who were involved in the public sphere have suffered from persecution and intimidation in order to compel them to leave their work, citing a number of examples of such cases. In this context, the report has recorded, as of November 25, 2022, no fewer than 112 incidents where women were targeted over their job or opposition to the practices of HTS

Moreover, the report outlines the most notable violations by the armed opposition/SNA, stressing that those groups targeted females in detention/abduction operations, either because of their activism or voicing their opposition to the armed opposition’s practices in their territories. In some cases, those violations exhibited an ethnic aspect. According to the report, most of these incidents take place with no judicial warrant and without the involvement of the police apparatus, namely the administrative apparatus authorized to make arrests on judicial grounds, and without any clear charges being presented.
Female detainees by the armed opposition/SNA are subjected to various forms of torture. They are also denied medical care, food, and needs. Further, mothers are separated from their children in case they were detained together.
The report concludes that the parties to the conflict have failed to show the proper treatment of women, as established by the international law and Rule 134 of the customary international humanitarian law. The parties to the conflict in Syria, particularly the Syrian regime which is responsible for the majority of violations in the conflict, have violated many legal articles regarding women, as included in Protocol II additional to the Geneva Convention, adopted in 1977.
this report shows that patterns of discrimination against women have been exhibited in a range of practices, which constitute violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which established all the articles states must implement to protect women from the negative effects resultant from discrimination. In addition, such practices constitute a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
The report stresses that among the violations outlined that have been perpetrated by the Syrian regime in the form of widespread and systematic attacks in a way that qualifies them as crimes against humanity are: murder, torture, rape, and enforced displacement.
The report adds that among the violations outlined in this report that have been perpetrated by the Syrian regime, as well as the other parties to the conflict, in a way that qualifies them as war crimes are: sexual violence, violence to life, particularly murder in its different forms, mutilation, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity.
The report recommends that the international community provides protection and assistance for forcibly displaced females, both IDPs and refugees, particularly girls, and respect their specific needs, most importantly protection.
The report also calls for coordinating humanitarian relief operations by focusing on the worst affected areas, and avoid the pressure and exploitation by the Syrian regime that attempts to solicit aid in its own favor. Moreover, the report calls for according sufficient resources to rehabilitate female survivors, particularly victims of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage. This includes establishing institutions to protect and care for female victims who have suffered exclusion from their families and communities.
In addition to other recommendations made by the report.

As the report notes, the continuous bombardment by Syrian regime forces since March 2011 has resulted in the partial or complete destruction of no fewer than 1,119 schools and 30 kindergartens, most of which were put out of commission. Furthermore, the report additionally notes that Syrian regime forces and its allies have turned dozens of schools into military centers. The report also reveals that the worsening reality of education, the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of children and rampant poverty have all led to a rise in the levels of child labor, which has become one of the most widespread phenomena across all of Syria.
Additionally, Syrian regime forces have resorted to recruiting children since the early stages of the popular uprising, with the Syrian regime also facilitating child recruitment for foreign militias. To that end, the Syrian regime has not carried out any investigations or inquiries about child recruitment by these forces. As the report reveals, no fewer than 67 children have been killed in action as of November 20, 2022. The report also estimates that at least 1,425 child recruits are currently serving with Syrian regime forces. Of those, no fewer than 86 children have been recruited by Iranian militias or pro-Iran militias, including 24 children who were killed in action.
The report stresses that remnants of the weapons used by the Syrian regime and its allies in widespread and indiscriminate attacks against areas that broke free of its control continue to pose a serious threat to the safety and lives of civilians, especially children. At the top of this list are cluster munitions which have an indiscriminate nature. In this context, the report records that no fewer than 442 children have been killed either directly as a result of the attacks themselves in which the Syrian regime used cluster munitions or as a result of old munitions exploding in areas that were previously bombed using cluster munitions. The second most prominent threat of this nature is posed by landmines which have been planted by the various parties to conflict.
The report also stresses that he Syrian regime’s violations have caused a mass displacement affecting millions of Syrians. Northwestern Syria, which broke free of the regime’s control, houses the largest population of internally displaced people (IDPs), with children making up roughly 46 percent of IDPs. A large percentage of the displaced children were in fact born and brought up in camps, which means they lack the most basic life necessities, such as hygiene, privacy, proper bathrooms, and safe housing. Additionally, the dire shortage of health and educational facilities has further eroded the already minimal levels of healthcare available in those camps, with children forced to travel to other areas to receive healthcare, while education has become a very expensive luxury. As a result, diseases and illiteracy have become rampant issues among displaced children.
Moreover, the report notes that Russian attacks in which cluster munitions were used have resulted in the killing of 67 children since the start of Russia’s military intervention in Syria on September 30, 2015. In addition, Russian attacks have caused damages to no fewer than 221 schools in the same time period.
The report also outlines the violations against children by HTS. In addition to killing and imprisoning children, the group has also established dozens of training centers and encouraged children to join its ranks, putting them through religious indoctrination courses to alter their beliefs in a manner that emulates the ISIS model. The group also took over many schools in iareas under its control and turned them into civilian or military centers. As the report further notes, three schools have been attacked by HTS as of November 20, 2022.
Furthermore, the report reveals that the SDF has also conscripted children in a widespread manner despite the fact that the Kurdish Self-Administration signed a joint action plan with the UN agreeing to put an end to child recruitment, and to release children already recruited. Additionally, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units signed a deed of commitment with the Geneva Call organization in 2014 banning the use of children in wars. Nonetheless, the group’s recruitment of children has not stopped. The report documents that no fewer than 213 children have been recruited by and are still active with the SDF since the group’s foundation. The report also reveals that the SDF has attacked no fewer than 16 schools as of November 20, 2022.
The report also outlines violations against children by all armed opposition factions/SNA. In addition to killing and imprisoning children, armed opposition factions have recruited children, taking advantage of their poor living conditions. According to the report, 12 children have been killed in action with armed opposition factions, while no fewer than 36 schools have been attacked by all armed opposition factions/SNA as of November 20, 2022.
The report stresses that despite the abundance of international instruments establishing and protecting human rights at all times, violations against children in Syria have not stopped for 11 years. All parties to the conflict have failed to respect those rules. The Syrian regime has not been deterred by those conventions, despite having ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, from committing violations against children, some of which qualify as crimes against humanity through the acts of extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, torture, while others qualify as war crimes through the acts of forced conscription Furthermore, many of the violations committed by the other parties to the conflict against children could amount to war crimes if they were committed in the context of the conflict, and also as widespread violations of international human rights law if they were committed against children affiliated with those forces.
The report calls on the international community to ensure the protection of and aid for forcibly displaced children, both IDPs and refugees, especially girls and ensure their needs are met, particularly as regards protection.
The report stresses that all possible legal, political, and financial measures must be taken against the Syrian regime and its allies, as well as against other perpetrators of violations in the Syrian conflict, in order to put pressure on them to compel them to respect children’s rights. It also stresses the need for states to meet their financial pledges, to help the countries neighboring Syria and to provide every possible bit of support to improve the level of education and healthcare in those countries that are housing the largest proportion of child refugees. The report also calls for devising mechanisms to stop the bombing of schools and kindergartens, to protect those facilities, and to work on creating a safe educational environment.
The report also calls for coordinating humanitarian relief operations by focusing on the worst affected areas, and underlines the need to avoid falling prey to the pressure and exploitation by the Syrian regime that attempts to solicit aid in its own favor, as well as to secure the necessary resources to rehabilitate children, while placing especial emphasis on the special needs of girls who have been directly affected by violations, ias well as making a number of other recommendations.

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Press release (Link below to download full report):

Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today issued its tenth annual report on violations against females in Syria. The report, issued to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, reveals that at least 28,618 females have been killed in Syria since March 2011, 93 of them by torture, with 10,628 more forcibly disappeared, in addition to 11,523 sexual violence incidents against females, most of all violations perpetrated by the Syrian regime.

The 45-page report notes that women have played a pivotal role in the popular movement that started in March 2011. which turned after to an internal armed conflict after nearly a year. They were often subjected to violations due to their role and in the demonstrations as well as political, humanitarian, media and human rights activities, and they were also affected by the repercussions of violations that affected the Syrian society as a whole. Some violations against Syrian women amounted to crimes against humanity, and the worst part is the continued violations, including horrific ones, for more than a decade, which made the state of women in Syria extremely fragile and vulnerable, as they lost various forms of legal and human rights protection. The report added that women have special, gender-based requirements in armed conflicts, and the international humanitarian law granted them wide-ranging protections.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, executive director for the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said:
“Grave violations against women, some of which amount to crimes against humanity, are no longer receiving the necessary attention and condemnation. We have even noticed a normalization of the crimes due to their constant repetition over a long period of time, which is extremely dangerous. It is crucial to reject and condemn the violations that Syrian women have been exposed to by all sides, with the Syrian regime being by far the most prolific offender, and to ensure that crimes and their perpetrators are never normalized.”

The report is based on the Syrian Network for Human Rights’ archive, which has grown steadily since March 2011 through daily monitoring and documentation of violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, conscription, sexual violence, attacks with various types of weapons. The report, also outline the record of violations against females by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2021 according to the SNHR database. This report also draws on the accounts and interviews we conducted with female victims and survivors, and with victims’ relatives, or witnesses of incidents, and included 9 accounts in this context.
According to the report, females in Syria have been subjected to many and repeated patterns of violations, varying in severity, spread, and current and future consequences on the Syrian female. The report focused on categories of grave and life-threatening violations identified by the United Nations Security Council, mainly extrajudicial killing, which is the most severe in Syria due to the high percentage of female victims, followed by arrest/detention, which turns in the vast majority of cases into enforced disappearance, then torture and sexual violence. It also focused on the recruitment of female minors, assaults on females, and harassment by parties to the conflict.

The report documents the deaths of 28,618 females at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2021, including 21,996 females killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, 1,593 at the hand of Russian forces, 981 at the hands of ISIS, and 83 at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). The report further reveals that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have killed 260 females, while the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army killed 1,318 females. A further 961 females were killed as a result of attacks by the US-led coalition forces, and 1,426 females were killed at the hands of other parties. The analyses of the data showed that the Syrian regime is responsible for nearly 77% of extrajudicial killings, and cumulative index that 2013 was the worst year in terms of targeting females with killings, followed by 2012, 2014 and 2015.

In terms of arrest/ detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, the report reveals that at least 10,628 females are still arrested/ detained or forcibly disappeared by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria, including 8,497 at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, 44 at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 869 at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, and 942 at the hands of the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army. The report adds that 276 of these females were arrested by ISIS before its retreat and are still forcibly disappeared, as of November 25, 2021. The report included a cumulative index of the arrests of females since March 2011, showed that 2015 was the worst in terms of arrest, the Syrian regime is responsible for about 80 % of the cases.

As the report further reveals, 93 females have been killed under torture in Syria since March 2011, including 74 in the Syrian regime’s detention centers, while 14 females died under torture in the detention centers of ISIS, two in the detention centers of Syrian Democratic Forces, and two in the detention centers of the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army, while one female died due to torture at the hands of other parties.
The report stated that when detaining females in the detention centers of the security branches, the Syrian regime forces do not take into account their natural need and subject them to the same conditions of detention as the men. The women are placed in cells adjacent to the cells in which the males are held, they use the same bathrooms, and are searched and taken for interrogation by male security members as there are no female members to supervise them within the security branches, and they are also subjected to all forms and methods of torture similar to the men.
In many cases, we have recorded the arrest of women with their children or with other women from their family, especially elderly or pregnant women, which increases the suffering of women during detention and exposes them to extra vulnerability when deprived of the medical and health care they need, as well as the needs of their children. Their children suffer from the same conditions throughout the period of their detention. From March 2011 to November 25, 2021, we have recorded no less than 152 incidents of arrest of children who were accompanied by their mothers, and no less than 89 incidents of childbirth inside detention centers, all of whom suffered from a shortage of the necessary health care after birth and the lack of food and medicine and psychological and health requirements, which resulted in the death of 7 newborns.

The report added that Syrian regime has used sexual violence against women as an effective tool of torture, or as a form of punishment, and to spread fear and humiliation among the female detainees, and in many of the recorded cases, sexual violence was practiced based on a sectarian background or as a retaliation according to the role the detainee played in the popular movement for democracy, whether this role was political, medical, relief, humanitarian or other civil society activities.

The report further noted that Syrian regime forces committed at least 8,013 incidents of sexual violence, including approximately 879 incidents that occurred inside detention centers, and at least 443 cases of sexual violence against girls under the age of 18.
The report reveals that, in addition to extrajudicial killings, Syrian Democratic Forces have carried out detentions of females. During their detention in SDF detention centers, females endure extremely poor conditions, and are subjected to various methods of torture. They are often mistreated on the basis of their ethnicity, denied healthcare and food, and also held without facing any specific charges and without any trial being held until long after their original detention, which can last for periods of several months or years.

The report adds that SDF has continued to carry out forced conscription in a widespread manner in areas under their control, targeting both female adults and underage females, forcing them to join the SDF’s ranks, which has deprived these female children of education.
The report documents 136 incidents of conscription of children by the SDF since its establishment, 56 of them were conscription of female children.
The SDF has practiced many types of sexual violence against females, both in the group’s detention centers and, in the camps, managed and administered by the group. The report documents at least 12 incidents of sexual violence committed by SDF personnel as of November 25, 2021.
The report mentioned the harassment and assault committed by the Syrian Democratic Forces against females, especially female activists or workers in civil society organizations in the SDF areas of control.

Regarding the violations by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, the report notes that Syrian women in the areas under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham suffer from negative discrimination against them in general, and the restriction of freedom of movement and clothing is only one aspect of it, but the violations against them go far beyond that, and their suffering increases exponentially if they are working or wishing to work in public affairs, or in community organizations, whether it was in media, relief, or politics. We have documented that many women who were involved in public affairs were subjected to harassment and intimidation to push them to abandon their work. In this regard the report recorded at least 108 incidents as of November 25, 2021, in which women were targeted because of their work or opposition to the practices of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

The report also details the most notable violations committed by the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army, noting that females have been targeted for detention/ kidnapping either because of their activities, due to their objection to these forces’ practices in areas under their control, and in many cases due to their ethnicity, with most of these incidents taking place without any judicial warrant, with no clear charges against those detained.
During their detention in the detention centers belonging to the Armed Opposition/ Syrian National Army, female detainees are routinely subjected to various methods of torture, and are also deprived of healthcare, food and other essential requirements, in addition to being deprived of their children if they are arrested with them.

The report concludes that despite the legal arsenal, including UN Security Council resolutions that stipulate respect for the rights of women and children, including female children, the Syrian regime controlling the Syrian state was the first party to violate laws, and has been the only party to commit crimes against humanity. The other parties to the conflict followed in its footsteps, and indeed committed violations that were not practiced by the Syrian regime itself, such as forced marriage, restrictions on clothing, freedom of movement and forced conscription, some of which amount to war crimes. International law has been violated in a comprehensive manner in the Syrian conflict that has spanned nearly a decade to date. The report stresses that the crimes perpetrated against Syrian women will not end without a political transition towards a democratic system that respects human rights, in particular the rights of women, and extends over the entire Syrian territory.

The report stresses that the crimes included in it have been practiced by the Syrian regime in the form of widespread and systematic attacks which constitute crimes against humanity, including: murder; torture; rape, and persecution, adding that forced marriage may also amount to a crime against humanity; the ISIS terrorist group practiced this violation in a widespread manner, and it has also been practiced by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham.

The report reveals that the crimes included in it that the Syrian regime and the parties to the conflict have practiced include: Sexual violence, lethal violence, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity.

The report recommends that the international community should provide protection and assistance to forcibly displaced women, including IDPs and refugees, especially girls, taking into account their specific needs, primarily for protection.

The report also recommends that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and local and international humanitarian and relief organizations should coordinate humanitarian aid operations according to the areas worst affected and should reject attempts at pressure and blackmail by the Syrian regime which is working to harness aid to its advantage, as well as urging these organizations to allocate adequate resources for the rehabilitation of female survivors, especially those who have been subjected to violence, sexual exploitation and forced marriage, and should establish special care and protection refuges for abused women who have been ostracized by their families and communities.
In addition to other recommendations…

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Press release:
 
(Link below to download full report)
 
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reveals in its report released today, marking International Women’s Day, that nearly 9,264 women in Syria are still arrested/ forcibly disappeared, and that women have been targeted due to their work, noting that at least 67 incidents of women being targeted due to their work have been documented in northwest and northeast of Syria between March 2020 and March 2021.
 
The 17-page report notes numerous egregious violations against Syrian women and violations of women’s right to work, pointing out that over the past 10 years in Syria, since the beginning of the popular uprising in March 2011 and subsequently, after this developed into an internal armed conflict from July 2012, violations against women in Syria have received insufficient attention from the UN and international community, particularly bearing in mind the horrific extent, the intensity and the vast range of different types of violations in this category, including grave violations, some of which have amounted to crimes against humanity.
 
As the report reveals, while it’s true that the whole of Syrian society has suffered from the terrible effects of the violations perpetrated against its members, and that, in most cases, men constitute the largest proportion of these victims, some types of violations inflicted on Syrian women have a grave impact on women generally and their position in society; these effects are further exacerbated by women also being severely affected by the vast extent of the violations perpetrated against men, including killing, arrest and enforced disappearance. It has been noticed a radical change in the roles of women who have come to assume the roles of male and female caregiver in their families, with women themselves being subjected to terrible violations.
The report provides a record of the most notable violations perpetrated against women as detailed by the SNHR database between March 2011 and March 2021, with the report documenting the deaths of at least 16,104 women (adult female) at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria; of this total, Syrian regime forces killed 11,923, while 969 were killed at the hands of Russian forces, 587 at the hands of ISIS, 77 at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and 878 at the hands of the Syrian National Army froces/ Armed Opposition factions, while 161 were killed at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, 658 at the hands of the US-led Coalition forces, and 851 at the hands of other parties.
 
In terms of arrest/ detention or enforced disappearance, at least 9,264 women are still arrested or forcibly disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria since March 2011, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights database; 8,029 of these were detained by Syrian regime forces, 255 by ISIS, 43 by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 761 by the Syrian National Army forces/ Armed Opposition factions, and 176 by Syrian Democratic Forces.
 
As the report reveals, at least 92 women were killed due to torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria during the same period, with 74 of them killed at the hands of Syrian regime forces.
The report also documents at least 11,523 incidents of sexual violence against women, of which the Syrian regime committed 8,013, including 879 incidents that occurred in detention centers, while ISIS committed 3,487, factions of the Armed Opposition committed 11 incidents of sexual violence, and 12 others were committed at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces.
 
The report adds that in addition to the aforementioned grave violations, women have suffered from many other types of violations. This report, issued to coincide with International Women’s Day which falls annually on March 8, sheds light on a specific aspect of the violations and harassment faced by women working in public affairs. The report focuses on gender-based persecution and derision targeting some women involved in public affairs and working in political, media and relief activities who are forced by harassment into giving up their work. In addition to facing this harassment, the report adds, the harsh economic and social conditions have forced many women to work in unsuitable fields and working environments, through which many have been subjected to many harassment, sex discrimination, in addition to imposing severe restrictions on their freedom of movement and clothing.
 
In this context, the report documents at least 67 incidents of assault and intimidation against women activists and workers, or against centers for women in connection with their activities, between March 2020 and March 2021, in each of the governorates of Idlib, Aleppo, Raqqa, Hasaka and Deir Ez-Zour, in areas outside the control of the Syrian regime, in areas under the control of each of the following forces: The Syrian National Army forces/ Armed Opposition factions, Syrian Democratic Forces, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham. It should be noted that the violations and practices in this category perpetrated in areas under the control of the Syrian regime are not included in this report.
 
The report includes accounts and interviews which SNHR conducted with a number of women activists and workers in different fields who were exposed to one or more of the violations covered in the report, providing 11 accounts, which were obtained directly through speaking with the witnesses rather than from open sources.
 
The report notes that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Syrian Democratic Forces, Syrian National Army and ISIS-affiliated cells have targeted women in a discriminatory manner due to their work, with the 67 incidents distributed according to the party responsible for them; 23 of these were at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 14 by extremist cells (which are believed belong to ISIS), nine at by the Syrian National Army Forces/ Armed Opposition factions, four by Syrian Democratic Forces, and 17 at the hands of unidentified parties.
 
The report also includes charts showing the distribution of these incidents across the governorates in which the incidents occurred and according to the type of incidents.
 
The report concludes by noting that while all the forces involved in the Syrian conflict have committed many egregious violations against Syrian women, some of which amount to crimes against humanity, the Syrian regime remains the most prolific perpetrator of these violations, and the main party responsible for them as the party which wields absolute control over the governmental system.
The report notes that on this occasion it has addressed only the phenomenon of harassment and threats to women on a discriminatory basis in areas outside the control of the Syrian regime (the areas of the Syrian regime and its practices in this field were not included), and stresses the dangerous situation facing women subjected to threats and harassment of women on a discriminatory basis in the areas controlled by each of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Syrian Democratic Forces, Syrian National Army and cells affiliated with ISIS.
 
The report recommends that all parties to the conflict should end all types of violations against Syrian women, in particular the most flagrantly egregious crimes, end all forms of discrimination on the basis of sex, and open the way for women to engage in various aspects of social, political, economic and media life.
The report also calls on all parties to the conflict to follow up on the information and testimonies included in this report, to prosecute those involved in the violations, to work to end the harassment and threats against women, to provide various forms of psychological and security support to women and to support their efforts in rehabilitation, combating extremism and violence, and building peace.
 
The report further recommends that humanitarian organizations and donor parties should support organizations concerned with women’s affairs, including those providing services for rehabilitation, social care, shelter, psychological support, and family counseling, and to consider establishing more care and protection homes for battered women and those who have been ostracized by their families and communities.
 
The report concludes by calling on the international community to effectively work to accelerate the political transition process towards democracy, which would contribute to promoting the basic rights of women in the Syrian society.
 

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Press release:

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The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today issued its ninth annual report on violations against females in Syria. The report, issued to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, reveals that at least 28,405 females have been killed in Syria since March 2011, 91 of them by torture, with 8,764 more forcibly disappeared.

The 38-page report notes that women have different needs from men and are more susceptible to marginalization, discrimination and poverty in armed conflicts, noting that international humanitarian law grants women particularly wide-ranging protections, with the parties to the conflict failing to respect or apply these articles. The report further notes that the Syrian regime has far exceeded all other parties, individually or collectively, in terms of the amount of crimes perpetrated by the regime in a regular and systematic manner, in particular those crimes violating the inherent right to life and survival, as well as the prohibition of torture, enforced disappearance and sexual violence, which amount to crimes against humanity. Indeed, despite the ruling authority governing the Syrian state being the party with primary responsibility for protecting its citizens, it is the one primarily responsible for killing, torturing and displacing them.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, says:
“We face exceptionally severe challenges in documenting the many types of violations perpetrated against Syrian women during nearly a decade of armed conflict. The various controlling authorities strenuously resist any disclosure of these violations in every way possible, meaning we cannot provide even an approximate assessment of their full extent, which has led to many of these violations and the resulting suffering sustained by Syrian women remaining unaddressed. This suffering also includes the hundreds of children born as a result of forced marriage/ rape by individuals affiliated with extremist groups designated as terrorists who subsequently disappeared; this is only one of the many types of violations which have been unaddressed, with the contents of this report representing only the tip of the iceberg. Syrian society cannot recover and become stable without starting by acknowledging the various violations against women and working diligently to end these, prevent their recurrence, and mitigate their intense and continuous repercussions.”

The report, which focuses particularly on broader, more harmful violations, is based on the SNHR’s daily monitoring and documentation of violations since March 2011, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, conscription, sexual violence, and attacks with various types of weapons. The report also draws on the accounts and interviews we conducted with female victims and survivors, and with victims’ relatives, or witnesses of incidents, and includes 11 of their personal accounts. The report also outlines the record of the most notable violations against females by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2020.

The report documents the deaths of 28,405 females at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2020, including 21,943 females killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, 1,579 at the hand of Russian forces, 980 at the hands of ISIS, and 82 at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS). The report further reveals that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have killed 254 females, while the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army killed 1,313 females. A further 960 females were killed as a result of attacks by the US-led coalition forces, and 1,294 females were killed at the hands of other parties.

As the report notes, the Syrian regime’s military operations do not distinguish between civilians and combatants or between civilian and military targets. Rather, the vast majority of attacks have concentrated on civilian areas whose populations include women and children, meaning that the occurrence of victims among them is inevitable. Females make up around 10 percent of the total civilian death toll since 2011, which is a high percentage and clearly shows the Syrian regime’s deliberate targeting of civilians, as the report notes.

In terms of arrest/ detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, the report reveals that at least 10,556 females are still arrested/ detained or forcibly disappeared by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria, including 8,474 at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, 44 at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 866 at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, and 896 at the hands of the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army. The report adds that 276 of these females were arrested by ISIS before its retreat and are still forcibly disappeared, as of November 25, 2020.

As the report further reveals, 91 females have been killed under torture in Syria since March 2011, including 73 in the Syrian regime’s detention centers, while 14 females died under torture in the detention centers of ISIS, two in the detention centers of Syrian Democratic Forces, and one in the detention centers of the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army, while one female died due to torture at the hands of other parties.

In their detention of females in the security branches’ detention centers, Syrian regime forces do not take into account any considerations of female detainees’ nature or needs, and subject them to the same conditions of detention suffered by their male counterparts. Female detainees are also subjected to all the same forms and methods of torture inflicted on men. The report notes that, in many cases, women are arrested with their children, or arrested while they are pregnant, and are deprived of all their physical or psychological needs and of the necessary healthcare and medical care for them and their children, who are subjected to the same conditions imposed on their mothers throughout the period of their detention. In this context, the report documents between March 2011 and November 25, 2020, at least 143 cases of children being detained along with their mothers, and at least 87 births in detention centers, with all these babies suffering from a complete lack of post-natal health care and a total absence of any provision of their needs, resulting in the deaths of seven of the babies.

The report further notes that the detained women are routinely subjected to sexual violence and, in some cases, sexual extortion on the basis of barter. The report estimates that at least 8,021 incidents of sexual violence have been committed by Syrian regime forces, including approximately 879 incidents in detention centers and at least 443 cases of sexual violence against girls under the age of 18. The report adds that there is a well-founded fear that the Syrian regime continues to use sexual violence against female detainees in its detention centers.

The report reveals that, in addition to extrajudicial killings, Syrian Democratic Forces have carried out detentions of females. During their detention in SDF detention centers, females endure extremely poor conditions, and are subjected to various methods of torture. They are often mistreated on the basis of their ethnicity, denied healthcare and food, and also held without facing any specific charges and without any trial being held until long after their original detention, which can last for periods of several months or years.

The report adds that SDF has continued to carry out forced conscription in a widespread manner in areas under their control, targeting both female adults and children, forcing them to join the SDF’s ranks, which has deprived these female children of education.
The SDF has practiced many types of sexual violence against females, both in the group’s detention centers and in the camps managed and administered by the group.
The report documents at least 11 incidents of sexual violence committed by SDF personnel as of November 25, 2019.

Regarding the violations by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, the report notes that HTS has carried out detentions of females, adding that these detentions are not carried out according to judicial standards, with women imprisoned in HTS detention centers being subjected to harsh conditions of detention, as well as being subjected to severe psychological and physical torture.

The report adds that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has forced women in the areas under its control to submit to a number of proscriptions and has imposed rules regarding clothing. With many of these rules, women have been specifically targeted, which is blatant discrimination against women, and constitutes a violation of a large number of rules of international human rights law.

The report also details the most notable violations committed by the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army, noting that females have been targeted for detention/ kidnapping either because of their activities, due to their objection to these forces’ practices in areas under their control, and in many cases due to their ethnicity, with most of these incidents taking place without any judicial warrant, with no clear charges against those detained, and without the participation of the police, who are the administrative body officially authorized by the judiciary to conduct arrests and detentions.
During their detention in the detention centers belonging to the Armed Opposition/ Syrian National Army, female detainees are routinely subjected to various methods of torture, and are also deprived of healthcare, food and other essential requirements, in addition to being deprived of their children if they are arrested with them.

The report concludes that despite the legal arsenal, including UN Security Council resolutions that stipulate respect for the rights of women and children, including female children, the Syrian regime controlling the Syrian state was the first party to violate laws, and has been the only party to commit crimes against humanity. The other parties to the conflict followed in its footsteps, and indeed committed violations that were not practiced by the Syrian regime itself, such as forced marriage, restrictions on clothing, freedom of movement and forced conscription, some of which amount to war crimes. International law has been violated in a comprehensive manner in the Syrian conflict that has spanned nearly a decade to date. The report stresses that the crimes perpetrated against Syrian women will not end without a political transition towards a democratic system that respects human rights, in particular the rights of women, and extends over the entire Syrian territory.

The report stresses that the crimes included in it have been practiced by the Syrian regime in the form of widespread and systematic attacks which constitute crimes against humanity, including: murder; torture; rape, and persecution, adding that forced marriage may also amount to a crime against humanity; the ISIS terrorist group practiced this violation in a widespread manner, and it has also been practiced by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham.

The report reveals that the crimes included in it that the Syrian regime and the parties to the conflict have practiced include: Sexual violence, lethal violence, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity.

The report recommends that the international community should provide protection and assistance to forcibly displaced women, including IDPs and refugees, especially girls, taking into account their specific needs, primarily for protection.
The report adds that all countries worldwide must ratify CEDAW, fulfill their obligations under it to hold the Syrian regime accountable, expose the regime’s criminal practices, and make every possible effort to mitigate and stop these.

The report also recommends that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and local and international humanitarian and relief organizations should coordinate humanitarian aid operations according to the areas worst affected and should reject attempts at pressure and blackmail by the Syrian regime which is working to harness aid to its advantage, as well as urging these organizations to allocate adequate resources for the rehabilitation of female survivors, especially those who have been subjected to violence, sexual exploitation and forced marriage, and should establish special care and protection refuges for abused women who have been ostracized by their families and communities.

The report also recommends that European States and European Union should intensify economic sanctions on the two main backers of the Syrian regime, namely Iran and Russia, should provide every possible assistance to the active civil society groups working to rehabilitate and reintegrate female victims into their communities, and should support the operations for the support and rehabilitation of female survivors in areas of displacement and asylum, in addition to supporting the judicial accountability process, and supporting the path of litigation through universal jurisdiction. The report also provides other recommendations to various United Nations bodies and the international community.

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The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reveals in its report released today to mark the occasion of International Women’s Day that Syrian women continue to suffer from the worst types of violations, and that SNHR has documented the deaths of at least 28,316 females since 2011, while at least 9,668 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared.

The six-page report reveals that the challenges accompanying the popular uprising that demands political change in a country like Syria, which is governed by a longstanding authoritarian regime, are particularly severe for women in Syrian society, due to the economic and social norms that govern Syrian society. The report states that Syrian women participating in the process of political change have been exposed to the same types of brutal violations as the Syrian regime inflicted against their male peers since the earliest days of the popular uprising. Even in the face of these terrible abuses, Syrian women have continued to play a central and vital role in the uprising for freedom and democracy, paying a horrendous price for their participation in the march towards democracy, dignity and human rights.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, says:
“Despite the sensitivity of violations against women and the clear condemnation by the provisions of international law of these violations, we note a complete failure to implement protection for women in Syria, firstly by the Security Council, and, secondly, by the international community. Many of the violations against women, which amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, have barely received any censure, let alone sufficient levels of condemnation and denunciation, or at the very least any effort to exert economic and political pressure to alleviate them even if they cannot be immediately ended.”

According to the report, females in Syria – both children and adults – have also been subjected to various types of violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and executions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, forced displacement, siege, and denial of healthcare and basic services, with many of these violations, particularly the killing, torture and enforced disappearance, being the worst in the world.
Syrian women and girls have not been accidental victims of the conflict, but have rather been directly and deliberately targeted; females have been targeted either because of their active contribution to social, humanitarian, political, human rights, relief, medical, and media work, or simply because they are females, with the aim of marginalizing and breaking them, as part of the regime’s efforts to suppress and intimidate society and deter any further opposition to the authorities, particularly since the status of women in Syrian society is still strongly linked to tradition, customs and beliefs.

Also, the report notes that the internal armed conflict has imposed onerous burdens and massive changes on Syrian women; the high death toll and the disappearance of large numbers of men from society has led to women bearing an additional burden, as the percentage of households headed by women increased. This has led to many women being forced to assume new roles in addition to their customary ones, subjecting them to stressful and complex living conditions that are difficult to cope with, often outweighing their physical and emotional capabilities, with the constant stress, lack of security and social care due to the loss of husbands or brothers, and the paralysis of the educational process, amongst other challenges, having a catastrophic effect on their mental and emotional wellbeing. The lack of sufficiently competent organizations specializing in caring for and supporting Syrian women inside Syria or in countries of asylum has further aggravated this already intense suffering.

The report documents the deaths of at least 28,316 females at the hands of the main perpetrator parties to the conflict in Syria between March 2011 and March 2020; of this total, the Syrian regime killed 21,933, while Russian forces killed 1,578, ISIS killed 980, and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham killed 81. A further 1,307 females were killed the hands of factions of the Armed Opposition, while the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces killed an additional 250, the US-led coalition killed 959, and another 1,228 females were killed by other parties.

According to the report, at least 9,668 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared by the main perpetrator parties in Syria between March 2011 and March 2020, with 8,156 of these being still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian Regime forces, while at least 249 females are still forcibly disappeared after being arrested by ISIS. Another 29 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and 851 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared by factions of the Armed Opposition. The report also records that at least 383 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian Democratic Forces.

According to the report, at least 90 females died as a result of torture by the main perpetrator parties in Syria between March 2011 and March 2020, with 72 of these killed by Syrian Regime forces, 14 by ISIS, and one each by factions of the Armed Opposition and other parties, while two females died as a result of torture at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces.

The report records at least 11,523 incidents of sexual violence between March 2011 and March 2020, of which 8,013 were committed by the Syrian regime; of this total, 871 occurred in detention centers. Meanwhile, ISIS committed 3,487 incidents of sexual violence, while at least 11 incidents of sexual violence were committed by factions of the Armed Opposition, and another 12 incidents by Syrian Democratic Forces.

The report stresses that the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977 clearly provide for the protection of women from attacks on their honor, personal dignity and from degrading and humiliating treatment. The practices of the Syrian regime and other parties to the conflict constitute a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and the provisions of international law, the report adds, noting that the failure of the protective mechanisms established by international law mechanisms and consequently the loss of any protection for Syrian women from atrocious violations is one of the worst betrayals that Syrian women have suffered.

The report calls on the UN Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on the fundamental rights of women, providing absolute protection for women from indiscriminate killings and any attacks on their honor, in particular against rape, forced prostitution and any defilement of women. The report also calls on the UN Security Council to provide urgent assistance for forcibly displaced females, in addition to demanding the immediate release of female detainees and taking real action to end the horrendous violations perpetrated against them.
The report also calls on the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences to intensify his efforts in Syria, given the horrendous level of violence committed against Syrian women, in particular by the Syrian government itself, which exceeds that shown by any other government in the world, most especially women in the detention centers of the Syrian regime and its security services.

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Press release:
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) states in its report issued to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that violations in Syria have reached the level of crimes against humanity, and that the international community should intervene to protect women in Syria, noting that 28,076 females have been killed in Syria since March 2011, nearly 84 percent of these at the hands of Syrian Regime forces and its allies.

The 36-page report reveals that for more than eight years, the basic rights of Syrian women have further deteriorated at all levels, including the security, social, economic, health and psychological levels, in conjunction with the Syrian regime’s murderously brutal response to the people’s demands for freedom and fundamental human rights as a result of the eruption of the popular uprising for democracy in 2011. Whilst it’s true that all segments of Syrian society have been adversely affected by the repercussions of the conflict, women have been worst affected, firstly because of their multiple roles and responsibilities as mothers and caregivers, and secondly due to their social and health status.

The report explains that Syrian women and girls have not been accidental victims of the conflict, but have rather been directly and deliberately targeted by all parties to the conflict, primarily by the Syrian regime, which is by far the most prolific and most brutal perpetrator of violations compared to the other parties; females have been targeted either because of their active contribution to social, humanitarian, political, human rights, relief, medical, and media work, or simply because they are females, with the aim of marginalizing and breaking them, and as part of the regime’s effort to suppress and intimidate society and deter any further opposition to the authorities, particularly since the status of women in Syrian society is still strongly linked to customs and beliefs. Women have also been subjected to various types of violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and executions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, forced displacement, siege, and denial of healthcare and basic services, with the rates of these violations, particularly the killing, torture and enforced disappearance, being the worst in the world, according to the report. Women have been subjected to other types of violations, including restrictions on work, education and clothing, and access to adequate healthcare in areas controlled by ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, as well as forced conscription in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, along with persecution, threats, intimidation and extortion in areas under the control of factions of the Armed Opposition.

As the report notes, although most international legal instruments and covenants, such as the Geneva Convention and its two Additional Protocols, international humanitarian law and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, give special protection to women in their articles, in all circumstances, given women’s specific needs, Syrian women still do not enjoy even the lowest levels of protection and security. Such security and protection can only be achieved through the creation of a stable and secure society, which is impossible to achieve in the absence of a democratic political system. Despite the massive and overwhelmingly vast number of problems and violations suffered by Syrian women, a large number of them still haven’t abandoned their resistance and the struggle to attain basic and fundamental rights and freedoms for the whole of Syrian society in order to achieve the democratic transformation of the Syrian state; their selflessness and self-sacrifice underlines the need for a guarantee of their active participation at every level.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, says:
“After suffering this terrible loss of their rights, Syrian women deserve all forms of support and advocacy from all women’s organizations and human rights bodies around the world, more especially since the world’s states have failed to fulfill their obligations to protect women in Syria and to ensure that the Syrian regime respect the Geneva Conventions to which it is a party. Syrian society cannot be stable without holding the perpetrators of crimes against Syrian women accountable and ensuring all their rights.”

The report outlines the record of violations committed by the main parties to the conflict in Syria against females between March 2011 and November 25, 2019, particularly outlining the violations that occurred between November 25, 2018, and November 25, 2019. The report also draws upon survivors’ accounts and outlines 11 accounts of survivors of various types of violations or of victims’ families or eyewitnesses to the incidents.

The report documents that 28,076 females were killed at the hands of the main parties to the conflict in the period covered by the report. Of those, 21,856 females were killed by Syrian Regime forces, 1,479 were killed by Russian forces, 959 were killed by US-led coalition, and 1,307 females were killed by factions of the Armed Opposition.
In addition, extremist Islamist groups killed 1,059 females – 980 of these were killed by ISIS and 79 by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, while Syrian Democratic Forces killed 245 females. Lastly, 1,171 females were killed by other parties.

As the report further reveals, at least 10,363 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared by the main parties in Syria between March 2011 and November 25, 2019, of whom 8,412 are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian Regime forces, 919 are still detained or forcibly disappeared by factions of the Armed Opposition, 489 by extremist Islamist groups, including 426 by ISIS and 63 by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, while 543 females are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian Democratic Forces.
The report includes the total record of female victims who were killed as a result of torture, which reached 90 women (adult female), 72 of whom were killed by Syrian Regime forces, 14 by ISIS, two by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, and one each by factions of the Armed Opposition and other parties.

The report notes that women and girls benefit from the general protection and special protection provided for them under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the two Additional Protocols as civilian individuals not taking part in hostilities, and enjoy all the rights provided for, including the right to life and the right to physical and psychological integrity, with the systematic killings, torture and enforced disappearances widely practiced by Syrian Regime forces in all Syrian governorates constituting crimes against humanity, as indiscriminate bombardment is indiscriminate and is daily recurring war crimes.

The report stresses that Syrian Regime forces have practiced sexual violence, effectively using it as a deterrent weapon to terrorize the whole of society. This has become a terrible everyday phenomenon with dire consequences for the victims, particularly women and girls, as well as their families and communities. In many such incidents, however, victims understandably don’t feel sufficiently confident to reveal the details of their ordeals, in most cases out of fear of retaliation, shame, or social stigmatization.

The report notes that at the 2005 Summit, states unanimously agreed that every country has a responsibility to protect its population from crimes against humanity and war crimes. This responsibility entails the prevention of such crimes, the prevention of incitement to commit them by all possible means, and when the state clearly fails to protect its population from egregious crimes, or itself is committing such crimes as in the case of the Syrian regime, asserts that it is the responsibility of the international community to intervene to take protective measures in a collective, decisive and timely manner.

The report also notes that through indiscriminate bombardment and killings, Syrian Democratic Forces have committed acts which constitute war crimes, all in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and have also carried out arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and forced conscription.
As the report states, ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham have both carried out the crime of killing, as well as indiscriminate shelling operations, which constitute war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. ISIS has also tortured and enslaved women in a widespread manner which constitutes a crime against humanity, with these acts constituting violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and constitute war crimes.
The report further notes that forcing women to wear certain clothing and controlling their freedom of movement and expression constitute violations of a wide range of fundamental rights according to international human rights law.
Factions of the Armed Opposition have also committed numerous violations against Syrian women, some of which were committed against the backdrop of the armed conflict, which constitute a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and some of which took place in areas under their control, which constitute a violation of international human rights law.

The report calls on the Syrian regime to lift its reservation on the CEDAW treaty, to immediately cease the acts of willful killing, torture, and arrest which it carries out against Syrian women.
The report also calls on the Syrian-Russian alliance and Iranian militias to cease their deliberate bombardment of residential civilian neighborhoods and populated areas since these attacks result in civilian casualties, most of whom are women and children, to disclose the fate of the disappeared females in their detention centers, to investigate the torture and deaths of female detainees, and to end unfair and arbitrary trials and to repeal their sentences.

The report recommends that US-led coalition should investigate the incidents that resulted in the death of female victims in particular, calling on the US-led coalition to apply pressure on its allies, the SDF, to cease the conscription of female children, as well as abductions and arrests.
The report stresses the urgent need for all parties to the conflict to immediately release female detainees, particularly those detained against the backdrop of the armed conflict, and abide by international laws on the detention of girls.
The report urges the European States and European Union to escalate their economic sanctions on the two main supporters of the Syrian regime, namely Iran and Russia, and to provide every possible assistance to the active civil society groups working to rehabilitate and reintegrate female victims into their communities.

The report stresses that the UN Security Council must protect women in Syria from the Syrian regime, which has been perpetrating the most serious and major violations of every kind against Syrian women, and to put pressure on the Syrian regime to ensure that international observers, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, are given unconditional and unrestricted access to women and girls in detention centers.

Lastly, the report recommends that both OHCHR and the International Commission of Inquiry (COI) should issue a special report on the violations that Syrian women, in particular, have experienced.

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Syrian women’s fundamental rights – whether social, security-related, economic, health or psychological – have deteriorated severely at every level following the Syrian regime’s brutal retaliation against Syrian society in response to the outbreak of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in March 2011. Whilst it’s true that all parts of Syrian society have been affected by the repercussions of the conflict, women have been the worst affected due to their responsibilities and their social and health status. Women have also been subjected to various types of violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, executions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, enforced displacement, siege and denial of health care and basic services. Many of these violations, especially killing, torture and enforced disappearance, are of such a vast magnitude that the country now suffers the worst rates globally.

Syrian women and girls have not been the victims of the conflict in any indirect way, but have been directly and systematically targeted by all parties to the conflict, primarily the Syrian regime, whose crimes are on such a massive scale that it is far ahead of any other perpetrator in the conflict by a massive margin. Women have been targeted for many reasons, including their effective contribution to social, humanitarian, political, human rights, relief, medical and media work, or simply because they are females, with the objective of marginalizing and breaking them, and to suppress society and intimidate them through the horrendous consequences of opposing the state authorities. Women are a particular target due to the fundamental role of women in the Syrian society linked to societal norms and beliefs. In addition, women have suffered other types of violations, including constraints and restrictions on work, education and clothing, as well as access to appropriate health care in areas controlled by ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham. They have also suffered from forced conscription in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as persecution, intimidation, and blackmail in areas under the control of factions of the Armed Opposition. Many women have also suffered from the loss of the main breadwinners in their families, as well as living in dreadful living conditions in light of displacement, and from early and forced marriage.

Fadel Abdul Ghani, Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, states:
“Syrian women have played a pivotal role in monitoring and documenting human rights violations in Syria, bearing the arduous, long and consecutive hours of work, seeing the bodies and details of the victims and speaking with hundreds of survivors. The accuracy of women’s work and research, as well as their extraordinary patience have been evident in the SNHR’s database, which would not have been of this quality without their efforts.”

The worst aspect of the Syrian women’s suffering has been the failure of the international community to protect them, to stop the killings, torture and detention, and to end the targeting of the health and service facilities that provide basic services and the foundations of a decent life. The flagrant violations against women and girls in Syria call for both the United Nations member states and the Security Council to implement prevention and protection measures to shield women from the consequences of the conflict. It is essential that these bodies assume their responsibilities towards Syria’s women and put an end to the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of multiple crimes and force them to abide by the rules of international law, which clearly provide for giving women particular protection and care. In Syria’s case, however, these rules have been completely disregarded amid the relentless, flagrant violence and brutality of the Syrian regime.

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