The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today, June 13, 2024, released a report entitled, ‘The Syrian Regime’s Law No. 19 of 2024 on Establishing a Media Ministry Blatantly Violates Freedom of Media, Opinion, and Expression’, in which the group stressed that Law No. 19 of 2024 is simply an instrument to consolidate the regime’s control over the work of journalists and media content, impose further censorship against private press and publications entering the country, and placing more restrictions on TV production.

The 11-page report notes that Syria is notoriously one of the lowest-ranking countries globally in terms of freedom of press and media work. The Syrian regime bears full responsibility for the abysmal state to which the country’s media have sunk. In this, the regime has further compounded its suppression of journalists and media workers following the start of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in 2011. Hundreds of journalists and media workers have been killed, arbitrarily arrested, and forcibly disappeared since then, while all regional and international media outlets operating in Syria at the time were banned and expelled, except for those that unquestioningly endorsed the regime’s narrative.

As the report further reveals, the Syrian regime has maintained its absolute hegemony over every area of legislative power in Syria, effectively using this limitless power to legalize and rationalize a wide range of violations through promulgating quasi-legal laws. In this, the Syrian regime allowed the executive branch/security apparatus to exert full control over the People’s Assembly of Syria, and the laws passed by it, regardless of the fact that these may violate international human rights law and the interests of the Syrian people.

Law No. 19 of 2024 is the latest in a series of laws that enable the regime to consolidate control over the various aspects and sectors of media, increasing censorship, silencing dissenting views, and further tightening the security apparatus’s already stifling grip on the media through the power of the law in a blatant violation of international human rights law. Other such laws include the Law on Media, which was adopted through Legislative Decree No. 108 of 2011, and then Legislative Decree No. 107 of 2012 on the Implementation of the Articles of the Law on Online Communication and Combating Cybercrime. There were also Legislative Decree No. 23 of 2016, which was an amendment to the Law on Media, and Law No. 20 of 2022, which can be described as an overhaul of the existing criminal articles on cybercrime. The Syrian regime has used those laws primarily as instruments to criminalize and persecute a wide range of civilians, including even pro-regime figures, for practicing the most basic forms of expression of opinion or voicing criticism against the authority, especially in light of the rising levels of popular resentment in regime-controlled areas amid steadily deteriorating economic and living conditions for civilians.

The report stresses that the text of Law No. 19 of 2024 clearly contradicts both international and domestic laws, as well as the Constitution of 2012. Moreover, Law 19/2024 perpetuates the regime’s policy of restricting freedom of opinion and expression, and consolidating control over media outlets, in a broader attempt to monopolize and restrict information, and spread misinformation in service of its interests, no matter how much this goes against the interests of the state and the Syrian people.

The report calls on the UN and the international community to apply as much pressure as possible on the regime to repeal all legislation that violates international law and is used to restrict and criminalize freedom of opinion and expression. Moreover, the report calls for exerting serious and effective efforts to ensure the safety of journalists and media workers in Syria and end impunity for violations against them, as stated in Security Council resolution 2222 (2015), Human Rights Council resolution 33/2, adopted on September 29, 2016, and the UN General Assembly resolution 162/70, adopted on December 17, 2015, as well as in the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity adopted in 2019.

The report also calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) to document the extent to which the laws promulgated by the Syrian regime violate international human rights law, and to condemn all arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance practices carried out on the grounds of said laws.

In conclusion, the report calls on the Syrian regime to repeal all legal articles that can be used as grounds to detain journalist sand media work over practicing their profession from the existing legal system in Syria, in addition to making other recommendations.

Marking World Press Freedom, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released a statement, noting that it documented the killing of 717 journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since March 2011, including 53 who died due to torture. The group added that Law No. 19 that was recently promulgated by the Syrian regime violates the most basic principles of freedom of opinion and expression, and further perpetuates the executive branch’s grip on the media.

The statement notes that, Since the beginning of the popular uprising in Syria, the various parties to the conflict have unapologetically carried out practices that violate the freedom of press, opinion, and expression. We have documented numerous types of serious violations, including extrajudicial killings, arrest/enforced disappearance, torture, assaults on facilities, and imposing laws that restrict the freedom of press, opinion, and expression. The Syrian regime, which controls the Syrian state, bears the primary responsibility for Syria’s disastrous rankings worldwide in terms of freedom of press and media work and, through this, for defaming the image of Syria and Syrians. Indeed, the Syrian regime is the primary perpetrator of violations against journalists and media workers, vastly surpassing the other parties to the conflict individually or collectively. Meanwhile, Russia is practically a supporter and backer of the Syrian regime’s violations, which necessarily entails that it bears joint responsibility with the Syrian regime for 85 percent of all violations against journalist and media workers in Syria.

The statement stresses that Law No. 19 of 2024, which was promulgated by the Syrian regime on April 23, 2024, and which introduces a new Ministry of Media that is set to supplant the older one, aims to place further and unprecedented restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression, not to mention the fact that it is riddled by contradictions, and contravenes, in a number of articles, international instruments on human rights.  Even more absurd is the fact that it conflicts with the Syrian Constitution adopted by the Syrian regime itself in 2012. The statement references a number of articles that provides for the new Ministry of Media to be the absolute supervising authority over journalistic and media work, which manifests, as the new law establishes, in a number of ways, including controlling TV production through a body called the National Committee on Drama, which would be responsible for framing the policies for production, scripting, and distribution. The statement notes that the Syrian regime is trying to place an even tighter grip on TV production in particular, and all media outlets in a more general sense, in order to promote its propaganda that has been spouting for years, which is based on omitting facts, discrediting the narrative of the Syrian people’s uprising for democracy, polishing the image of the Syrian regime, denying its crimes, and asserting its narratives.

As the report further notes, while the Syrian regime is by far the party most responsible for violations against journalists and media workers, it is not the only main party that committed such violations. Indeed, all parties to the conflict and controlling forces have violated the rights of journalists and media workers, especially when those individuals expose the violations of those de facto powers. Broadly, all of these parties have resorted to a policy of silencing mouths. As a result of those compounded, continued violations, Syria has become over the past 13 years one of the world’s worst countries in terms of freedom of press, as well as freedom of opinion and expression, in light of the numerous violations taking place in those areas.

The statement outlines the toll of the most prominent violations against journalists and media workers in Syria since March 2011 up until 2024. The statement records the killing of 717 journalists and media workers, including seven children and six women (adult females), as well as nine foreign journalists and 53 journalists who died due to torture, and the injury of no fewer than 1,612 others at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and May 2024. Of the 717, the Syrian regime was responsible for the killing of 554 journalists, including five children, one woman, five foreign journalists, and 48 journalists who died due to torture, while 24 journalists were killed at the hands of Russian forces. ISIS killed 64 journalists, including one child, two women, three foreign journalists, and three journalists who died due to torture, while eight journalists, including two who died due to torture, were killed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Meanwhile, all armed opposition factions/the Syrian National Army (SNA) were responsible for the killing of 26 journalists, including one child and three women, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed four journalists since March 2011. Lastly, US-led International Coalition forces killed one journalist, and 36 journalists, including one foreign journalist, were killed by other parties.

On the subject of arbitrary arrest/detention and enforced disappearance the report records no fewer than 1,358 cases of arrest and abduction targeting journalists and media workers between March 2011 and May 2024. Of this total, 486 journalists, including nine women and 17 foreign journalists, are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared in the detention centers operated by the various parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria. Those 486 cases include 392 who are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared at the hands of Syrian regime forces, including eight women and four foreign journalists, while 48 journalists, including one woman and eight foreign journalists, are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared by ISIS, 15 journalists by HTS, 14 journalists, including five foreign journalists, by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and 17 by the SDF.

The statement also outlines the most notable violations against journalists and media workers between May 2023 and May 2024. This period saw the killing of two journalists and media workers: one by Syrian regime forces and one by other parties. The last year also saw no fewer than 49 cases of arrest and abduction involving journalists and media workers, including two women. Of these, 13 journalists, including two women, were arrested by Syrian regime forces, while 16 were arrested by HTS. Moreover, 11x were arrested by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and lastly nine journalists were arrested by SDF.

The statement stresses that, as long as dictatorship and despotism continue to exist in Syria, the country will never enjoy freedom of press, opinion, and expression. The only way to change this terrible reality in which fundamental freedoms are denied and absolutely crushed is to bring about a political transition to democracy in Syria, which has been the people’s fundamental demand since the popular uprising first began in March 2011.

The statement adds that all the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria have violated many of the rules and laws of international human rights law in the areas under their control, especially those related to freedom of opinion and expression, such as Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These parties have also violated many rules and articles of international humanitarian law, foremost among which is Rule 34 of customary law, which requires that civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.

The report calls on the UN Security Council and the international community to make clear efforts to end the conflict in Syria through a political process that advances Syria from being a totalitarian state to a stable, democratic and civilized state that respects freedom of press.

Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – Marking World Press Freedom, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released its annual report on the most notable violations against media workers. In the new report, SNHR reveals that it has documented the killing of 715 journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since March 2011, including 52 journalists who died due to torture, stressing that violations against journalists and media workers have been going on continuously ever since the first days of the popular uprising in Syria 12 years ago.
The 25-page report notes that the Syrian regime has ruled the country with an iron fist for half a century since the reign of Hafez Assad. This totalitarian rule barely changed when Bashar, following in his father’s footsteps, became president with the ruling dynasty’s ruthless oppression continuing to this day. In fact, in the past 60 years, Syria has never experienced freedom of the press and media since the Baath party seized power in March 1963. Even before Hafez Assad took over absolute control, the Baathist regime made its intentions known by banning all the existing independent newspapers, allowing only the existence of newspapers that served as regime mouthpieces. As the report notes, as long as dictatorship and despotism continue to exist in Syria, the country will never enjoy freedom of press, opinion, and expression, adding that the only way to change this terrible reality in which fundamental freedoms are denied and absolutely crushed is to bring about a political transition to democracy in Syria, which has been the people’s fundamental demand since the popular uprising first began in March 2011.
The report expands further on the reality of freedom of press, opinion, and expression since the beginning of the popular uprising in Syria in March 2011. The regime, the report stresses, notably further intensified its existing oppression of journalists and media workers following the start of the popular uprising in Syria, in March 2011. Indeed, the regime didn’t only crush domestic press freedom, but even expelled all the Arabic and international media outlets that had been operating in Syria. This ban, which has now been in place for 12 years, created a glaring chasm in media coverage, with the great and noble journalistic duty of reporting the reality of the historical events transpiring in the country falling, as a result, on the shoulders of activists, giving rise to what became known as “citizen journalists”, who have risked their lives to document and report news events. As the report further explains, while the Syrian regime was and still is the main party responsible for the crimes against journalists and media workers, it is not the only party perpetrating them, with all parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria having been guilty of such violations, especially against the journalists and media workers exposing the acts of the de facto authorities that emerged in Syria. Sadly, all parties to the conflict have resorted to policies of silencing dissent, and, thus Syria has become one of the world’s worst countries in terms of press freedom in light of 12 years of compounded and accumulated violations against the media sector.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, executive director of SNHR, says:
“On World Press Freedom Day, we acknowledge and remember the sacrifices of hundreds of Syrian journalists and Syrian media activists, particularly since the start of the popular uprising in March 2011, since when they’ve been specifically targeted. These brave journalists are still awaiting justice and accountability for the perpetrators of violations in Syria, most importantly the Syrian regime because dictatorship and despotism are the stark opposite of press freedom. As long as the current Syrian regime remains in power, Syria will never have any genuine form of freedom of the press.”
The report summarizes the most notable violations suffered by journalists and media workers between March 2011 and May 2023, with particular focus on those documented in the last year (May 2022-May 2023), including the most noteworthy incidents recorded in this period. The report further notes that, since the beginning of the popular uprising, the various parties to the conflict have unapologetically carried out practices that violate the freedom of press, opinion, and expression.
The report stresses that the Syrian regime, which controls the Syrian state, bears the primary responsibility for Syria’s disastrous rankings worldwide in terms of freedom of press and media work, and, through this, for defaming the image of Syria and Syrians. Indeed, the Syrian regime is the primary perpetrator of violations against journalists and media workers, vastly surpassing the other parties to the conflict individually or collectively. Meanwhile, Russia is, in practice, a supporter and backer of the Syrian regime’s violations, which necessarily entails that it bears joint responsibility with the Syrian regime for 85 percent of all violations against journalist and media workers in Syria. The types of violations perpetrated by the Syrian regime against journalists and media workers are varied. The regime still maintains its ban on all independent media outlets, imposing full and absolute control over state media, and quashing any freedom of opinion and expression for media workers and citizens through restrictive laws and decrees (or the People’s Assembly of Syria, which is also completely subservient to the regime) that explicitly violate international human rights law, and alarmingly limit the freedom of the press, opinion, and expression. The most recent legislation passed by the regime that imposes further restrictions on the freedom of press, opinion, and expression is Law No. 20 of 2022 regarding cybercrime, which was passed by the head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad in April 2022. The new law contains vague articles with no clear definitions, and violates the right to freedom of the press, opinion, and expression, threatening digital rights and online privacy. Overall, the Cybercrime Law is simply a perpetuation of the Syrian regime’s policies of restricting freedom of opinion and expression by expanding the scope of the vague and broad charges devised and used by the Syrian regime as a pretext since March 2011 to legitimize the widespread arrests and give further power to the members of its security agencies.
The report documents the killing of 715 journalists and media workers, including seven children and six women (adult females), as well as nine foreign journalists and 52 journalists who died due to torture, and the injury of no fewer than 1,603 others at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and May 2023. Of the 715, the Syrian regime was responsible for the killing of 553 journalists, including five children, one woman, five foreign journalists, and 47 journalists who died due to torture, while 24 journalists were killed at the hands of Russian forces. In other words, the Syrian regime and its ally Russia are responsible for approximately 81 percent of all deaths among journalists and media workers since 2011. Additionally, the Syrian regime has been responsible for 91 percent of all deaths of journalists and media workers due to torture inside its official and non-official detention centers.
As the report further reveals, ISIS killed 64 journalists, including one child, two women, three foreign journalists, and three journalists who died due to torture, while eight journalists, including two who died due to torture, were killed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Meanwhile, all armed opposition factions/the Syrian National Army (SNA) were responsible for the killing of 26 journalists, including one child and three women, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed four journalists and media workers since March 2011. Lastly, international coalition forces killed one journalist, and 35 journalists, including one foreign journalist, were killed by other parties.
The report contains graphs showing the distribution of extrajudicial killings of journalists and media workers since March 2011 by year, and by Syrian governorates. This categorization shows that 2013 saw the highest number of documented deaths among journalists and media workers in Syria (approximately 25 percent of all deaths journalists and media workers), followed by 2012 (approximately 18 percent), and then 2014 (approximately 16 percent). In terms of governorates, Aleppo governorate saw the highest documented number of deaths among journalists and media workers with 22 percent of all deaths, followed by Daraa governorate with 17 percent, and Damascus suburbs with 16 percent.
On the subject of arbitrary arrest/detention and enforced disappearance the report records no fewer than 1,309 cases of arrest and abduction targeting journalists and media workers between March 2011 and May 2023. Of this total, 471 journalists, including nine women and 17 foreign journalists, are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared in the detention centers operated by the various parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria. Those 471 cases include 387 who are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared at the hands of Syrian regime forces, including eight women and four foreign journalists, while 48 journalists, including one woman and eight foreign journalists, are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared by ISIS, 11 journalists by HTS, 12 journalists, including five foreign journalists, by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and 13 by the SDF. In terms of governorates, the highest percentage of journalists and media workers who are still under arrest/forcibly disappeared were arrested in Aleppo governorate (approximately 14 percent), followed by the two governorates of Deir Ez-Zour and Damascus (11 percent each), and then Idlib (nine percent).
The report also outlines the most notable violations against journalists and media workers between May 2022 and May 2023. This period saw the killing of four journalists and media workers: one of these journalists was killed by Syrian regime forces, one by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and two by other parties. The last year also saw no fewer than 59 cases of arrest and abduction involving journalists and media workers, including six women. Of these, 24 journalists, including four women, were arrested by Syrian regime forces, while 12 were arrested by HTS. Moreover, six were arrested by all armed opposition factions/SNA, and lastly 17 journalists were arrested by SDF.
The report stresses that all the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces have violated many of the rules and laws of international human rights law in the areas under their control, especially those related to freedom of opinion and expression, such as Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These parties have also violated many rules and articles of international humanitarian law, foremost among which is Rule 34 of customary law, which requires that civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.
The report calls on the UN Security Council and the international community to make clear efforts to end the conflict in Syria through a political process that advances Syria from being a totalitarian state to a stable, democratic and civilized state that respects press freedom, to denounce the violations practiced by the parties to the conflict against journalists, and to support press institutions operating on Syrian territory in order to enable them to continue their work in reporting facts and events.
Furthermore, the report calls on all the parties to the conflict/controlling forces to immediately release journalists and media workers who have been arbitrarily detained, and to reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared, as well as to repeal all ‘security laws’ which absolutely suppress and deny freedom of opinion and expression, especially those issued by the Syrian regime, in addition to making other recommendations.

Download the full report

Press release:
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has issued its annual report on the most notable violations against media workers in Syria to mark the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, revealing that it documented the deaths of 711 journalists and media workers in Syria since March 2011, including 52 due to torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces, noting that violations against citizen journalists and freedom of opinion and expression have continued since the outbreak of the popular uprising in Syria nearly 11 years ago.

The 29-page report notes that Syria is among the worst countries worldwide in the freedom of press, opinion and expression, adding that throughout the era of the despotic rule of Hafez al Assad and his son Bashar al Assad, Syria has never witnessed freedom in journalistic or media work, since al Ba’ath Party seized power over the country in March 1963, banning all independent media, with the state retaining only those media mouthpieces speaking on the regime’s behalf.
The report goes into some detail about the Syrian regime’s crackdown on the freedom of press, opinion and expression following the outbreak of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in March 2011, when the regime further increased its repression of journalists and media workers, expelling and completely banning all independent Arab and international media that had been allowed a presence in Syria. This complete ban on media freedom has continued for 11 years to date.
In order to fill this huge void and to provide credible coverage of the historical events taking place in Syria, activists took up this journalistic mission, with the idea of a citizen journalist emerging in the country as these activists assumed responsibility for reporting, filming and photographing news, at great danger to themselves. As the report notes, the perpetrators of violations against journalists and media workers have not been limited to the Syrian regime although it is the main perpetrator, but extend to all parties to the conflict and controlling forces, most especially when engaged in exposing the violations perpetrated by the de facto authorities. In general, all these parties have practiced a policy of silencing voices, and as a result of these eleven years of accumulated and compound violations, Syria has become one of the worst countries in the world in terms of freedom of the press and of opinion and expression, according to the violations perpetrated against them.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), says:
“The Syrian regime rules Syria with an iron fist, banning all political parties, along with prohibiting the establishment of opposition or even independent media. There will be no freedom of the press, opinion, or expression as long as dictatorship and tyranny remain. Meanwhile, the areas outside the Syrian regime’s control have provided no democratic model that respects freedom of the press, opinion, and expression.”

This report outlines the record of the most notable violations against journalists and media workers in Syria from March 2011 to May 2022, and highlights the most notable violations documented by SNHR since World Press Freedom Day in the past year (from May 2021 to May 2022), as well as including the most notable violations that occurred during the same period. The report adds that since the outbreak of the popular uprising, the various parties to the conflict have engaged in practices that violate the freedom of the press, opinion and expression.

The report emphasizes that the Syrian regime, which controls the Syrian state, bears the greatest responsibility for Syria’s horrendous status globally concerning press freedom and media work, and for the grotesque misrepresentation of Syria and the Syrian people. The types of violations committed by the Syrian regime against journalists and media workers are wide-ranging and various, as the regime continues to generally prohibit all independent media, and to exert absolute control over state media. The regime restricts freedom of opinion and expression for media workers and citizens based on laws (issued via decrees, or through the People’s Assembly, which is itself subject to absolute regime control) that expressly oppose international human rights law and wholly obstruct freedom of opinion and expression. The report also sheds light on Law No. 20 of 2022 issued by the Syrian regime in April, stressing that what the law stipulates is a consolidation of the Syrian regime’s policy of restricting freedom of opinion and expression, and an expansion of the broad accusations fabricated and invoked by the regime since March 2011 to legitimize its brutality, mass arrests and other crimes it has perpetrated and to give a free hand to its security forces.

The report documents the deaths of 711 journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and May 2022, including seven children and six women (adult female), as well as nine foreign journalists, and 52 others who died as a result of torture, in addition to at least 1,563 journalists and media workers who have been injured to varying degrees, with the Syrian regime being responsible for the deaths of 552 journalists and media workers, including five children, one woman, five foreign journalists, and 47 other citizen journalists due to torture in detention centers, while Russian forces were responsible for the deaths of 24 journalists and media workers. This means that the Syrian regime and its Russian ally are responsible for approximately 82% of the death toll of journalists and media workers, and the Syrian regime is responsible for approximately 91% of the death toll due to torture in the regime’s official and unofficial detention centers.
The report also documents that ISIS killed 64 journalists and media workers, including one child, two women, three foreign journalists, and three under torture. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham also killed eight, including two who died due to torture.
The report further reveals that all Armed Opposition factions/Syrian National Army were responsible for the deaths of 25 journalists and media workers, including one child and three women, while Syrian Democratic Forces killed four journalists and media workers, the US-led Coalition forces killed one journalist/ media worker, and 33 were documented as being killed by other parties, including one foreign journalist.

The report provides charts that show the distribution of the death toll of journalists and media workers by parties to the conflict and the controlling forces, by year and across Syria’s governorates since 2011; the accumulative linear graph of the death toll shows that 2013 was the bloodiest year to date in Syria since 2011 for journalists and media workers (during which approximately 25% of the journalists and media workers documented as having died were killed), followed by 2012 (18%), and 2014 (16%), while Aleppo governorate saw the largest death toll among journalists and media workers, approximately 22%, followed by Daraa governorate with 17%, then Damascus Suburbs governorate with 16%.

In terms of arbitrary arrests/detention and enforced disappearances, the report documents at least 1,250 cases of arrests and kidnappings of journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria since March 2011, of whom at least 443, including six women and 17 foreign journalists, are still detained or forcibly disappeared in detention centers as of May 2022. Of these, 368 journalists and media workers, including five women and four foreign journalists are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, accounting for approximately 83% of the journalists and media workers still detained or forcibly disappeared. Meanwhile, another 48 journalists and media workers, including one woman and eight foreign journalists, who were arrested and subsequently forcibly disappeared by ISIS are still unaccounted for, while eight remain detained or forcibly disappeared by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 12, including five foreign journalists, by all Armed Opposition factions/Syrian National Army, and seven by Syrian Democratic Forces.
The analysis of data shows that the largest proportion of journalists and media workers who are still detained or forcibly disappeared were originally arrested in Aleppo governorate (approximately 14% of the documented total), followed by Deir Ez-Zour governorate (approximately 12%), then Damascus (approximately 10%).

The report lists the most notable violations against journalists and media workers from May 2021 to May 2022, noting that one media worker was killed by Russian forces during this period. The report documents at least 39 arrests and kidnappings of journalists and media workers by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria during the same period, 13 of these at the hands of Syrian regime forces, including three women, while 11 were at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, three were at the hands of all Armed Opposition factions/Syrian National Army, and 12 by Syrian Democratic Forces.

The report concludes that all the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces have violated many of the rules and laws of international human rights law in the areas they control, especially those related to freedom of opinion and expression, such as Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These parties have also violated many rules and articles of international humanitarian law, foremost among which is Rule 34 of customary law, which requires that civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.

The report recommends that the UN Security Council and International Community should make clear efforts to end the conflict in Syria through a political process that advances Syria from being a totalitarian state to a stable, democratic and civilized state that respects press freedom, denounce the violations practiced by the parties to the conflict against journalists, and support press institutions operating on Syrian territory in order to continue their work in reporting facts and events.

The report calls on all the parties to the conflict/controlling forces to immediately release journalists and media workers who have been arbitrarily detained, to reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared, and to repeal all ‘security laws’ which absolutely suppress and deny freedom of opinion and expression, especially those issued by the Syrian regime.
The report additionally provides a number of other recommendations.

Download the full report

Press release:
 
(Link below to download full report)
 
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has issued its annual report the most notable violations against media workers in Syria for World Press Freedom Day, noting that 709 journalists and media workers have been killed since March 2011, including 52 due to torture.
 
The 20-page report notes that many Syrian activists have taken it upon themselves to try to compensate for the regime’s banning of Arab and international media in Syria, to report news and the reality of events taking place, in light of the one party and one president dominating every aspect of public and private media and journalism work, with the regime further increasing its already brutal repression to become even more repressive since the outbreak of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in March 2011, particularly targeting media workers and photographers, as well as expelling and banning all independent media. The report adds that these journalists’ and photojournalists’ camera lenses and news reports have also contributed massively to the process of monitoring, recording and documenting human rights violations, with journalists and citizen journalists often considered to be either the first to catalogue the event, being eyewitnesses to what happened in some cases, and survivors of bombing at other times, or often falling into two or all three of these categories simultaneously. Based on these pivotal roles, the journalists and citizen journalists have been subjected to numerous violations.
 
This report outlines the record of the most notable violations against journalists and media workers in Syria from March 2011 to May 2021, and highlights the most notable violations documented by SNHR in the past year (from May 2020 to May 2021), as well as including the most notable violations that occurred during the same period.
 
The report notes that the violations against journalists, citizen journalists and media workers are continuing for the tenth consecutive year, with the practices of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces against the media sector workers in the past year not differing from previous years, although there were fewer such incidents.
 
The report documents the deaths of 709 journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and May 2021, including seven children and six women (adult female), as well as nine foreign journalists, and 52 others who died as a result of torture, with the Syrian regime being responsible for the deaths of 552 journalists and media workers, including five children, one woman, five foreign journalists, and 47 other citizen journalists due to torture in detention centers, while Russian forces were responsible for the deaths of 23 journalists and media workers, and ISIS killed 64, including one child, two women, three foreign journalists, and three under torture. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham also killed eight, including two who died due to torture.
The report further reveals that the Armed Opposition/ Syrian National Army were responsible for the deaths of 25 journalists and media workers, including one child and three women, while Syrian Democratic Forces killed four journalists and media workers, the US-led Coalition forces killed one journalist/ media worker, and 32 were documented as being killed by other parties, including one foreign journalist.
 
The report provides charts that show the distribution of the death toll of journalists and media workers by the perpetrator party, by year and across Syria’s governorates since 2011; analysis of the data shows that the Syrian regime and its Russian ally are responsible for approximately 82% of the death toll of journalists and media workers, with 2013 being the bloodiest year for journalists and media workers (25% of the total death toll), followed by 2012 and 2014, while Aleppo governorate saw the largest death toll among journalists and media workers, approximately 22%, followed by Daraa governorate, then Damascus Suburbs governorate.
The report records that at least 1,563 journalists and media workers have been injured to varying degrees at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria since March 2011.
 
In terms of arbitrary arrests/ enforced disappearances, the report documents at least 1,211 cases of arrests and kidnappings of journalists and media workers at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria since March 2011, of whom at least 432, including three women and 17 foreign journalists, are still detained or forcibly disappeared in detention centers as of May 2021. Of these, 357 journalists and media workers, including two women and four foreign journalists are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, while another eight are detained or forcibly disappeared by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, 12 by the Armed Opposition/ Syrian National Army, and seven by Syrian Democratic Forces. The report adds that 48 journalists and media workers, including one woman and eight foreign journalists, who were arrested and subsequently forcibly disappeared by ISIS are still unaccounted for.
 
The report provides charts that show the distribution of the record of journalists and media workers who are still detained or forcibly disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces across Syria’s governorates; the data analysis shows that the largest proportion of journalists and media workers who are still detained or forcibly disappeared were originally arrested in Aleppo governorate (approximately 14%), followed by Deir Ez-Zour governorate (approximately 12%), then Damascus (approximately 10%).
As the report reveals, at least 42 cases of arrests and kidnappings of journalists and media workers have been documented at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria between May 2020 and May 2021.
 
The report notes the absence of any independent media and the regime security services’ control of all state media, which have been harnessed to promote sham presidential elections in which Bashar al Assad is running for president, despite his being the figure who led the state throughout the past two decades until it reached its current devastated condition in all human rights, legal, political and economic fields. The report adds that the Syrian regime has introduced laws that violate the most basic principles of human rights and which aim to suppress freedom of opinion and expression.
 
The report concludes, based on the events documented by SNHR documented throughout this period, that all the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces have violated many of the rules and laws of international human rights law in the areas they control, especially those related to freedom of opinion and expression, such as Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
 
These parties have also violated many rules and articles of international humanitarian law, foremost among which is Rule 34 of customary law, which requires that civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.
 
The report recommends that all the parties to the conflict/ controlling forces should immediately release journalists and media workers who have been arbitrarily detained, reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared, allow access to all media outlets and cease to proscribe the work of journalists according to the extent of their loyalty to the controlling party, repeal all ‘security laws’ which absolutely suppress and deny freedom of opinion and expression, especially those issued by the Syrian regime, and should not use media as organs to serve the controlling forces and to justify their violations or falsify the truth.
 
The report additionally provides a number of other recommendations.
 

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Press release:
On the occasion of World Press Day, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) issued a report demanding the release of 422 citizen journalists in Syria, most of whom are detained by the Syrian regime, and are now threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report notes that 707 citizen journalists have been killed since March 2011 to date, 78% of them by Syrian Regime forces.
 
The 20-page report shows how the Syrian regime has been well aware of the danger posed by press freedom to its tyrannical rule for decades, abolishing all independent newspapers, and allowing only three official newspapers to be published, which are simply Syrian regime mouthpieces, dedicated to promoting, defending and justifying the regime’s actions. As the report further notes, it’s no exaggeration but simply a statement of fact to say that there is no such thing as a free press under the Syrian regime.
 
The report notes that the Syrian regime’s already strong hostility towards the concept of journalism and media freedom increased greatly after the outbreak of the popular uprising in March 2011, explaining that the emergence of the idea and importance of the “citizen journalist” came about due to the fact that the rate of violations rapidly grew and spread across various Syrian regions in parallel with the spread of the popular uprising demanding political change, with the regime forbidding external independent media from covering events on the ground, meaning citizen journalists were and are still largely the only ones doing so.
 
The report stresses that the violations against citizen journalists have not been limited to the Syrian regime although it is the main perpetrator, but extend to all parties to the conflict, most especially when journalists expose the violations of the de facto authorities.
 
The report emphasizes that the Syrian regime, which controls the Syrian state, bears the greatest responsibility for Syria’s horrendous status globally concerning press freedom and media work, and for the grotesque misrepresentation of Syria and the Syrian people. The report also notes that the Syrian regime is by far the largest perpetrator of violations against citizen journalists compared to all other parties to the conflict, although it adds that since Russian forces are also associated with and supportive of the Syrian regime’s violations, they bear joint responsibility, along with the Syrian regime, for 85% of the violations committed against citizen journalists.
 
The report further reveals that at least 707 citizen journalists, including seven children and six women (adult female), have been killed, as well as nine foreign journalists, and 52 others who died under torture, in addition to 1,563 other citizen journalists who were injured to various degrees, at the hands of all the main perpetrator parties to the conflict in Syria from March 2011 to May 2020.
 
The report distributes the total death toll according to the main parties to the conflict, with the Syrian regime being responsible for the deaths of 551 citizen journalists, including five children, one woman, five foreign journalists, and 47 other citizen journalists due to torture in detention centers, while Russian forces were responsible for the deaths of 22 citizen journalists, and ISIS killed 64, including one child, two women, three foreign journalists, and three under torture. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham also killed eight, including two who died due to torture. Factions of the Armed Opposition were responsible for the deaths of 25 citizen journalists, including one child and three women.
 
The report further reveals that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces killed four citizen journalists, while the US-led coalition forces killed one citizen journalist, and 32 were documented as being killed by other parties, including one foreign journalist killed at the hands of the Operation Peace Spring alliance forces (Turkish and Syrian National Army forces).
 
According to the report, there have been at least 1,169 arrests and kidnappings of citizen journalists at the hands of the main perpetrator parties in Syria between March 2011 and May 2020, of whom at least 422, including three women and 17 foreign journalists, are still detained or forcibly disappeared in detention centers as of May 2020. Of these, 353 citizen journalists, including two women and four foreign journalists are still detained or forcibly disappeared by Syrian Regime forces, while another 48, including one woman and eight foreign journalists, who had been detained by ISIS, are still forcibly disappeared up until the publication of this report.
Meanwhile, 12 citizen journalists, including five foreign journalists are still detained or forcibly disappeared by factions of the Armed Opposition, while Syrian Democratic Forces are still detaining six citizen journalists, with Hay’at Tahrir al Sham still detaining or forcibly disappearing three citizen journalists.
 
The report outlines a mini survey with 64 citizen journalists, including five women, which reveals part of the burden on the citizen journalists in the Syrian conflict. The survey showed that 87% of those surveyed have worked as citizen journalists since the first months of the popular uprising, while 96% have no relevant academic qualification from a college, university or journalism institute. Meanwhile, 63% of respondents use a pseudonym, while 76% confirmed that they have been subjected to persecution and restrictions by the governing authorities in the areas where they work, and 54% have been arrested in connection with their work as citizen journalists. A total of 32% of respondents had found it necessary to delete or destroy their media materials for security reasons, while 30% had fled outside Syria to protect their safety. Finally, 68% of the survey respondents revealed that their work as citizen journalists is the source of part or all of their income.
 
The report emphasizes that the Syrian regime uses state media as a weapon of war, including movies & TV series, noting that Russian and Iranian media and the Lebanese Hezbollah group have also replicated the Syrian regime’s accounts of events and repeated its statements, justifying all its crimes, as well as denying all of the crimes committed by the Russian and Iranian forces and Hezbollah in Syria, failing to mention any of them as though they had not happened at all.
 
The report expresses serious concern over the fate of 353 citizen journalists who are still detained by the Syrian regime, amid a strong possibility of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is particularly alarming given the fact that the detention conditions are unimaginably dire.
 
The report outlines international laws governing the rights of citizen journalists, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, and the United Nations General Assembly resolution, as well as United Nations Security Council Resolution no. 2222, in which it condemned all violations and abuses committed against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in situations of armed conflict.
 
The report notes that despite the decline in the area of Syria witnessing combat operations during the past year, and many citizen journalists withdrawing from media work due to restrictions or emigration, Syria remains one of the deadliest countries for journalists globally, ranking first in the world in terms of the number of citizen journalists killed in 2019 according to a report issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists on December 17, 2019. Syria also ranked as 174th out of 180 countries for the second consecutive year according to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
 
In conclusion, the report calls on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution demanding the immediate release of all citizen journalists, by all parties, particularly the Syrian regime, which is detaining the vast majority of them. The report also made a set of recommendations to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, and Arab and international media institutions, and calls on that the Syrian regime and all the dominant powers to immediately release all citizen journalists, and to reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared ones
 

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BY: AL DONATO

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) states in its report released today on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day that the reality of the citizen journalists in Syria is moving towards either retirement or displacement.
 
According to the 10-page report, Syria ranked 174 out of 180 according to the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
 
The report notes that the Syrian regime bears the greatest responsibility for Syria’s horrendous status globally, and for the grotesque misrepresentation of Syria and the Syrian people. Since the beginning of the Assad family’s rule, the report states, the regime’s security services have completely dominated every facet of the press and other media, and following the outbreak of the popular uprising for freedom in March 2011, they became even more lethally brutal and oppressive towards any independent press and media covering events in the country. This savage repression is driven by the regime’s fear that independent media would expose the practices and crimes of the Syrian regime and thoroughly disprove the complete falsity of the claims published as ‘news’ by the official media outlets, which are wholly controlled by the regime’s security services.
 
The growth of Syrian citizen journalism was a decisive factor in the preparation of press reports on events in Syria in cooperation and coordination with international journalists and media outlets. For this reason in particular, the Syrian regime, through a deliberate and clear strategy used in all Syrian governorates, targeted local journalists using snipers and singled them out for arrest, enforced disappearance and torture, with the regime also attempting to undermine the credibility of Syrian journalists by denying the veracity of their reports.
The report stresses that even in areas that broke free of Syrian regime control, citizen journalist and media workers have not been safe, with the regime and its allies targeting them with aerial and artillery bombardments, killing or injuring many of them. The report notes that one of the gravest examples of this attack strategy is the policy of ‘double-tap’ strikes targeting civilian populations, including primarily media workers who come to the bombing site to film the aftermath and prepare reports on the events that took place. According to the report, at least 1,457 media workers have been injured, with their injuries ranging from mild and moderate injury to permanent disability.
The report stresses that the Syrian regime allows no form of criticism at all, even from its most ardent loyalists, and will tolerate no kind of freedom of expression or press freedom; the Syrian regime has even prosecuted loyal media workers who obediently presented its account of events and defended it devotedly for years; when they expressed the slightest criticism or objection, however, they were quickly arrested by the security services. The report outlines the case of the prominent regime media figurehead known as Wesam al Tair, who was infamous for his absolute loyalty and his closeness to the ruling family, whose fate, as the report states, remains unknown.
 
The report further explains that ISIS copied the Syrian regime’s practices in many types of violations, such as filming and publishing various videos showing clearly coerced ‘confessions’ by citizen journalists admitting to supposed crimes against ISIS and expressing repentance before being executed by a variety of horrendous methods. One of the most notable of these gruesome publications by ISIS was what it called ‘The Devil’s Revelation’, issued in June 2016, containing footage of the execution of four citizen journalists in Deir Ez-Zour governorate (Samer Mohammad al Abboud, Sami Jawdat al Rabah, Mahmoud Shaaban al Haj Khader, Mohammad Marwan al Eisa).
 
As the report reveals, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has also persecuted citizen journalists in the areas under its control, killing all those who it felt might pose a threat to its extremist ideology and policies, as it did with Raed al Faris and Hamoud Jneed, as well as arresting dozens of citizen journalists in retaliation for issuing publications contrary to its policies or for participating in activism without obtaining permission; this persecution has led many media activists, fearing for their lives, to either abandon their journalistic activities or flee their areas.
 
The report notes that ahe areas under the control of the Armed Opposition have also not enjoyed positive models of press freedom, with citizen journalists routinely being subjected to a policy of harassment, extortion, intimidation, detention and torture.
 
The report stresses that Syrian Democratic Forces have also largely suppressed press freedom, in particular any approach that opposes their policies, carrying out a wide range of violations, including arrests, enforced disappearances and torture against citizen journalists who have criticized the Syrian Democratic Forces’ policies and their administration of the areas under their control.
 
The report documents some of the most notable violations against media workers according to the SNHR’s database, which recorded the deaths of at least 695 (local and foreign) journalists and media workers between March 2011 and May 2019, of whom 546, including five children, one woman and five foreign journalists, were killed by Syrian Regime forces, while Russian forces killed 20, and ISIS killed 64, including one child, two women and three foreign journalists. Meanwhile, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham killed seven media workers, while 25 others were killed at the hands of factions of the Armed Opposition, including one child and three women.
The report further reveals that Syrian Democratic Forces killed four media workers, while International Coalition forces killed one media worker, and another 28 were killed at the hands of various other parties.
 
According to the report, there have been at least 1,136 cases of arrests and kidnappings of media workers at the hands of all key perpetrator parties in Syria between March 2011 and May 2019, of whom at least 421, including four women and 18 foreign journalists, are still detained or forcibly disappeared in detention centers. Of these, 349, including two women and four foreign journalists are still detained by the Syrian regime, while another 48, including one woman and eight foreign journalists are imprisoned in the detention centers of ISIS, with Hay’at Tahrir al Sham still detaining three media workers, including one foreign journalist.
Meanwhile, 14 media workers, including one woman and five foreign journalists are still detained by factions of the Armed Opposition, while Syrian Democratic Forces are still detaining seven media workers.
 
The report calls on the UN Security Council to contribute to combating the policy of impunity by referring the situation in Syria to the ICC and making clear efforts to end the conflict in Syria through a political process that moves Syria from a totalitarian state to a stable democratic civilized state.
 
The report further recommends that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and highlight their sacrifices and suffering.
 
The report calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) to conduct investigations into the targeting of media workers in particular because of their vital role in recording events in Syria.
The report also calls on Arab and international media institutions to support their fellow journalists in Syria by publishing periodic reports that highlight their daily suffering and commemorate their sacrifices, as well as to communicate with their families, and provide relief and comfort to them.
 
In conclusion, the report stresses that all parties in the areas under their control must abide by the provisions of international humanitarian law with regard to the protection of civilians, especially media workers and their equipment.
 

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Following initial investigations, SNHR has announced that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, which has almost complete control of Kafranbel city in Idlib governorate, is the party most probably responsible for the assassination of Raed Fares and Hamoud Jneed on Friday, November 23, 2018.
In attempt to pre-emptively gain legitimacy through the use of terror and intimidation prior to the Turkish-Russian Agreement which came into force on September 17, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham carried out a number of raids on different villages, arresting dozens of individuals in the process at a time when the Syrian people were hopeful that a truce would contribute to completely eradicating the presence of extremist groups. In reality, however, the outcome of the truce was the direct opposite of this, with Hay’at Tahrir al Sham expanding at the expense of civil and moderate forces. Their ability to do so can be traced back to a chronic lack of any adequate support to strengthen civil society in north Syria that could enable the people there to effectively resist these terrorist groups’ strength and influence in light of the unfortunate complete absence of any form of strategy by the states that depict themselves as friends of the Syrian people despite these states’ constant reiterations of their claim that they wish to fight extremist groups.
 
SNHR noted, in its nine-page report released today, on Wednesday November 28, 2018, that eradicating those civil society movements which aspire to democracy is a shared goal of both the Syrian regime and these extremist groups since such movements pose an existential threat to the legitimacy of all such entities. When Syrian society is safe from the influence of the terrorism of both the Syrian regime’s security bodies and extremist groups, it inevitably sides with the civil community movement.
 
The report includes initial investigations into the assassination of prominent activist Raed Fares and fellow activist Hamoud Jneed. The report draws upon analysis of evidence, information, and photos collected from witnesses and other sources by SNHR. The report also features a first-hand account of the killing from the only individual who survived the assassination attempt, along with two other accounts from SNHR interviews with eyewitnesses. According to the initial investigations, there is strong reason to believe that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham was the party most probably responsible for the terrorist assassination.
 
The report also sheds more light on the life of Raed Fares who, with his artist friend Ahmad Jalal, was one of the masterminds behind the concept of drawing caricatures on the banners displayed during demonstrations. Raed Fares was also one of the first to write the date and name of the city where the demonstration was taking place on the banners that were carried by protesters at the demonstrations The Syrian people used to impatiently await each Friday to see the latest banners from Kafranbel, thanks to their creativity, stylish nature, and reliable weekly appearance. Kafranbel’s banners became a tradition and an internationally renowned potent symbol of the popular uprising for freedom. The report also notes that Raed Fares was the founder of the Union of Revolutionary Bureaus (URB) – an umbrella organization for a number of media and service projects, such as Radio Fresh, al Mantara Magazine, Mazaya Women’s Center, the Children’s Office, the Women’s Office, the Labor Office, and the ‘Eeesh Campaign’ (Live) and others. Additionally, Raed founded the group Lawyers for Freedom in 2014.
The report sheds light on the arrest and assassination attempts that targeted Raed Fares against the backdrop of his activism, leadership, and contributions to a number of civil and awareness-raising projects, in addition to his repeated criticism of oppression and of all extremist groups, which made him a prominent strategic target for terrorist groups. According to the report, Fares had received several death threats from leaders and security figures at Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, which had escalated particularly after Hay’at Tahrir al Sham arrested the lawyer Yaser al Salim on Sunday, September 21, 2018.
On Friday, November 23, 2018, at around 12:00 Damascus time/10:00 GMT, as most people were attending local mosques for the Friday prayers, a van followed activist Raed Fares’ car as he was driving accompanied by fellow activists Hamoud Jneed and Ali Dandous. After he parked the car, masked gunmen opened fire at the activist Raed Fares’s car, to kill Raed Fares and Hamoud Jneed.
According to the report, the gunmen retreated immediately after the operation which was planned to coincide with the Friday prayers, knowing that most residents would be at the mosques performing the weekly prayer, which facilitated the assassins’ movements, and helped them to pull off their terrorist act without being identified or recognized by people.
Some of the city residents confirmed that they had seen the killers’ vehicle heading east after the operation, adding that it was last seen heading towards the city center. It should be noted that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has set up its checkpoints at the northern and western exits to the city, while the group has no checkpoints at the eastern and southern roads leading out of Kafranbel.
 
The report stresses that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has almost complete control of Kafranbel and, as such, bears responsibility for the lives of its residents. Secondly, the group has signally failed to condemn, investigate, or show the slightest concern for the terrorist assassination that horrified the city’s residents and killed one of Kafranbel’s most prominent figures. In addition, extremist Islamic groups have become well known for adopting the type of operational strategy seen in the murder of Raed Fares and Hamoud Jneed in many of their killings and assassinations. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has even dissolved the local police force in Kafranbel, with members of the group now taking sole responsibility for police and security responsibilities. Moreover, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham stood to directly benefit from getting rid of an individual whose influence, symbolic importance and legitimacy far exceeded their own. Raed Fares had the ability to directly influence the residents of his city, promoting a message of hope and democracy that explicitly rejected the group’s extremist project.
 
The report calls on the international community and influential states to work to provide financial and logistical support for the active local councils who are experiencing either an open or concealed conflict in the areas of northern Syria with Hay’at Tahrir al Sham which is trying to dominate or dismantle these councils, as the latter continue their efforts to thwart the influence of the extremist groups by raising awareness and providing services. In addition, the report stresses that the political transition to democracy must be accelerated and the new Syrian state must be assisted in restoring security and stability, as well as supporting the formation of a robust and coherent local police force to defend the residents.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to monitor the violations taking place in areas under Hay’at Tahrir al Sham’s control and its damaging effect on civilian life in Idlib governorate, and to submit effective recommendations to the international community in this regard.
 
The report calls on all the armed opposition factions operating under Hay’at Tahrir al Sham to quickly detach themselves from its body, expose its practices, and arrange awareness campaigns on the ideologies of extremist groups, and how they infiltrate communities and recruit young men in tandem with workshops on the importance of respecting and defending basic human rights.
 

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On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, SNHR said that violations against Syria’s workers in the field of media, whether journalists or other media workers, haven’t stopped but continue to be perpetrated in the context of directly targeting their media activism in order to silence their voices and strike terror into the hearts of their colleagues, which further undermines the Syrian community and poses a threat to civil peace through crushing the authority and power of independent media outlets.
 
SNHR has, at the time of this writing, documented the killing of at least 689 workers in the field of media in Syria since the start of the popular uprising at the hands of the parties to the conflict, primarily the Syrian regime. This figure suggests that we lose a new worker in the field of media every five days. According to our database, 418 workers in the field of media are still either detained or forcibly disappeared, with all these individuals paying dearly to deliver facts and reveal the truth.
None of the parties to the conflict has launched any investigation, in any form, or addressed the crimes against workers in the field of media, or other crimes for that matter, with the Syrian regime being the principal offender among those parties via sponsoring and even legalizing a policy of impunity, whilst other parties to the conflict have subsequently followed in its footsteps. The Syrian Constitution contains articles which state clearly that no forces of the Syrian regime shall be held to account without the permission of their commanding officer; these articles accurately reflect the barbaric mindset of the ruling authority and its eagerness to enforce unrestricted authoritarianism upon the community.
 
We have monitored systematic, deliberate and continuous targeting of anyone attempting to film or document the peaceful demonstrations across the country by Syrian regime snipers. We’ve also documented that pro-regime photographers took photos of citizen journalists in order to have them arrested and prosecuted.
Since the start of the Russian forces’ intervention on September 30, 2015, a series of brutal crimes have been perpetrated across Syria, resulting in the killing of 19 media workers, most of whom were killed as a result of the ‘double-tap’ policy adopted by Russian forces.
 
With the emergence of extremist Islamic groups, citizen journalists and foreign journalists had to endure more persecution. Last year saw an escalation in the areas under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham in terms of assaults against the workers in the field of media, with the group raiding their offices and confiscating their contents. In addition, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham has arrested media workers who oppose their policies or criticize their practices. Meanwhile, ISIS’ violations against journalists and workers in the field of media have continued despite the group losing most of its previous territories, with SNHR documenting the killing of at least two media workers by ISIS last year alone.
Journalists and workers in the field of media in areas under the control of factions from the armed opposition have also faced killing and arrest, as those factions have used oppression and intimidation in dealing with journalists and others who criticize these factions.
 

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In a report release today, World Press Freedom Day, SNHR said that no less than 682 media workers have been killed in Syria since March 2011, 82% were killed at the hands of the Syrian-Russian alliance.
 
The report notes that journalism and traditional journalists haven’t been able to cover what was happening in detail, in light of the rapid developments in Syria, so it has fallen upon citizens, who received some training on journalistic work, to fill this void, which made them automatically a direct target for anyone they expose by recording, writing, or sharing news of their violations.
 
According to the report, not only did the Syrian regime and its allies targeted citizen journalists through killing, arrest, and torture, but they went as far as to hire tens of journalists to adopt and promote the Syrian regime’s narrative, deny its violations, distort facts and strip them of any context or credibility. The Syrian regime was mainly aided by the Iranian regime who has a great deal of experience in creating English content, as well as some Hezbollah-supporting Lebanese media outlets and the Russian media. All of these apparatuses worked together to deny the bombing on hospitals, schools, and markets and deny the siege and starvation of populations, while adopting the narrative of the Syrian regime’s war on terror and terrorist groups and polishing its image without forgetting to thank its Iranian and Russian allies.
 
The report notes that Syrian regime forces were responsible for approximately 90% of the recorded violations against citizen journalists. On the other hand, the report adds that all parties to the conflict all parties tried to oppress media outlets, distort facts, or exaggerate the brutality of their foes in some form or another and to varying degrees. This undermined the integrity and credibility of many media outlets.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, chairman of SNHR, adds:
“Citizen journalist have played an integral role in recording and narrating incidents and violations, and providing human rights groups with data. We have collaborated with them a lot. We mustn’t forget what they have contributed. Some of them sacrificed their lives and freedoms to expose and memorialize the truth and use it to defend their families and country.”
 
The report documents that 682 media workers were killed, including seven children and six women between March 2011 and May 2018 at the hands of parties to the conflict in Syria. Also, among the victims were eight foreign journalists and 37 who died due to torture. Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias were responsible for the killing of 538, of the 682 media workers who were killed, while Russian forces killed 18. In addition, 69 were killed by extremist Islamic groups, whereas factions from the armed opposition killed 25. Kurdish Self-Management forces killed four, and international coalition forces killed one, Lastly, 27 media workers were killed at the hands of other parties.
 
Moreover, the report stresses that the arrest and abduction of citizen journalists that have been going on for seven years was a part of the attempts to block and conceal the atrocities and violations that are being perpetrated in Syria, adding that most detainees have become forcibly-disappeared, especially the ones who are being detained in Syrian regime prisons.
 
According to the report, 1,116 media workers, including five women, were arbitrarily arrested or forcibly-disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict in Syria between March 2011 and May 2018. Also, among the victims were 33 foreign journalists. Of the 1,116, 833 were arrested by Syrian regime forces, while extremist Islamic groups arrested 122. Kurdish Self-Management forces arrested 56, and factions from the armed opposition arrested 64. In addition, the report records 41 cases of arrest by parties that the report hasn’t been able to identify.
 
Additionally, the report sheds light on exploiting the profession of journalism un Syria to serve criminals and polish their image, and to terrorize anyone who dared to stand in their face. There have been many videos of the brutal torture against opposers while other videos contained sectarian slurs. In addition, some videos contained visual effects that were falsely credited to factions from the armed opposition as an attempt to prove that the videos that activists were sharing from inside Eastern Ghouta were merely fabrications.
 
The report notes that the international humanitarian law has emphasized that journalists engaged in dangerous missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians and protected as such, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians, according to Article 79 of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. Further, rule 34 of the customary rules of the international humanitarian law states, Civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.”
 
According to the report, a number of Security Council Resolutions, 1738 and 2222, have condemned attacks and acts of violence against journalists and media workers.
 
In addition, the report calls on the Security Council to join the fight against impunity by referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
The report also calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria, and shed light on their sacrifices and suffering.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to investigate the targeting of media workers in particular given their vital role in recording incidents in Syria.
 
The report emphasizes the role of the Arabic and international media institution in advocating their fellow media workers by releasing regular reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice.
 

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Introduction:
As the popular protests began in March 2011 the Syrian authorities realized the crucial role of the media in exposing their crimes and violations and in delivering the people main demands, so they fought it with everything they have, and blocked the Arabian and international media by a percentage that reached 100% and then the local activist headed to the alternative media through the modern technology and through the social network as they started with simple cell phones’ cameras, as time passed and the movement developed they developed their tools and their form, and their form and ways of handling the events and covering it improved clearly and as websites specialized in transporting news and media appeared, also newspapers and news radio stations, but the rapid emergence of the alternative media wasn’t accompanied with the same level of training what made it under the effects of the moods and abilities and limits of the people responsible.
The Syrian authorities fought the activist through targeting them directly with killings and arrest, as many of them suffered death under torture to be a warning to the rest of their colleagues.
When the popular protests turned to an internal conflict, violations against media personnel started to happen more widely by all other nongovernmental parties, and this violations increased drastically, as this report try to shed light on this matter to deliver a simple concept of the grave sacrifices made by media activist and journalists in order to deliver the truth that coasted many of them their lives, and we’ve recorded many cases that the last photo taken by a photographer lens was the moment he lost his life.
The emergence of the extremist groups on top of it ISIS added a new type of terrorism and new ways of killing and abducting journalists, as happened with the two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Japanese journalist Kinji Goto.

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First: Executive summary
Violations against journalists were distributed as follows:
• First: Killing: SNHR documented the killing of 17 journalists, distributed according to the killing party, as follows:
– Government forces: killed 10 journalists, including 3 were dead under torture inside detention centers.
– Extremist groups: four journalists were killed by Daesh organization particularly.
– Armed opposition factions: killed two journalists.
– Unknowns: killed one journalist.

• Second: Arresting or kidnapping: SNHR documented no less than 43 arresting and kidnapping incidents, distributed as follows:
– Government forces: eight arresting incidents, including six journalists were released, in addition to two journalists whose fates remain unknown.
– Kurdish forces: eight kidnapping and arresting were all released in later times.
– Extremist groups:
Daesh: 20 kidnapping incidents, including 14 journalists were released, in addition to six journalists whose fates remain unknown.
Jabhat al-Nusra: two kidnapping incidents, one of them was released, and one whose fate remain unknown.
– Armed opposition factions: three kidnapping incidents.
– Unknowns: two kidnapping incidents, one was released.
– Third: injuries: 15 journalists were injured:
– Government forces: injured seven journalists.
– Armed opposition factions: injured five journalists.
– Unknowns: injured three journalists.
– Four: violations against properties: 11 incidents were distributed as follows:
– Government forces: violated in five incidents.
– Kurdish forces: violated in three incidents.
– Extremist groups: violated in one incident by Daesh.
– Unknowns: violated in one incident.

This report doesn’t cover media activists or civil-journalists whose violations were observed in tens of previous reports published by SNHR. All these facts and figures are the minimum amount of the danger and size of violations that happened and happening in Syria since 2011, due to the huge difficulties in documenting detainees and forcibly-disappeared, which is way harder than documenting victims, because of the journalists’ families or their employers’ fear of exposing their kidnapping or arresting on a side, and because that many media parties may entered negotiations with the kidnappers, refusing any interference, on the other side.

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