The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released a report entitled, ‘The Syrian Regime is Using Provisional Seizure of Assets as An Instrument of Collective Punishment’, in which the group revealed that at least 817 civilian residents of the town of Zakya in Rural Damascus governorate have been subjected to mass provisional seizure orders by the Syrian regime since the start of 2024.

This report is one in a series of reports released by SNHR examining the administrative decisions issued by the Syrian regime’s official institutions and their major legal consequences, and analyzing how these decisions affect the people concerned. This report’s particular focus is on the orders for the provisional seizure of transferrable and non-transferrable assets that were issued against the residents of Zakya between the start of 2024 and June 2024, with the regime’s Ministry of Finance issuing hundreds of new provisional seizure orders of a kind not seen previously there against the town’s residents during this period.

The 16-page report notes that provisional seizures of transferrable and non-transferable assets have been used by the Syrian regime as one of the most notoriously effective means to generate funds through seizing and subsequently disposing of assets identified in seizure orders. Equally important is the fact that this has been used as an additional form of punishment against most dissidents and their families, subjecting them to even more legal, social, and economic restrictions, oppression and injustice. As shown by the documents on provisional seizure orders issued by the Syrian regime, copies of which are retained in SNHR’s archives, arbitrarily arrested detainees and forcibly disappeared persons in regime detention centers, and the displaced, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, are among the groups most grievously affected by the provisional seizure orders issued by the Syrian regime, with these provisional seizure orders usually subsequently going on to effectively become executive seizures of property.

Since late-2023, the report notes, SNHR began noting that the regime is now using this policy in specific areas that had been outside its control, which were later recaptured and subjected to settlement agreements. In this way, the policy has exhibited more visibly discriminatory characteristics based on security-related and retaliatory considerations, with the resulting procedures lacking any trace of justice or transparency, not to mention blatantly contravening domestic and international laws.

As the report reveals, since the start of 2024, the Syrian regime’s executive arm has been increasing the number of provisional seizure orders issued against the transferrable and non-transferrable assets of Zakya town’s residents, in the form of orders issued by the regime’s Ministry of Finance. These orders are based primarily on Legislative Decree No. 63 of 2012, in addition to the notices and other official documents issued by Branch 285, the Interrogation Branch affiliated with the regime’s General Intelligence Directorate or ‘State Security’ division in Damascus city. In other words, those orders are not being issued by a judicial body, but by regime security authorities as a result of the excessively broad powers given by the regime to its official executive bodies with regard to issuing provisional/administrative seizure orders on assets and properties, mainly to the head of the Ministry of Finance under the pretext of combating money-laundering and terrorism. These powers even allow the seizure of the assets of the wives of wanted individuals, unlike judicial seizure orders, whose powers are limited to the property of the person whose assets are subject to expropriation.

The report reveals that at least 13 mass provisional seizure orders affecting no fewer than 817 civilians were issued by the Syrian regime’s Ministry of Finance in Rural Damascus governorate between January 2024 and June 2024. During this period, February saw the highest number of provisional seizure orders issued by the Syrian regime’s Ministry of Finance, as well the highest number of civilians affected in a single month. These orders included lists of names of individuals forcibly disappeared in regime detention centers, missing persons, individuals who had agreed to settle their security situation with the regime, and others wanted by the regime’s security authorities, including displaced persons and activists.

The report contains a number of graphs, which show that the group in Zakya town targeted most intensively in provisional seizure orders was individuals who had agreed to settlements with the regime-formed military and security committee following the regime’s takeover of the town in January 2017. This shows that the regime is adopting an ongoing policy of persecution of the town’s residents. After this group, the next worst affected category was IDPs or refugees forcibly displaced from the town. The report further reveals that neither the Ministry of Finance or any other official regime official body, has notified those affected by the provisional seizure orders of them in any official capacity. Rather, most of those affected found out about the orders through contacts in the government real estate registry offices and the municipality, while others learned of them only after the documents had been circulated on social media, or simply by accident while doing some paperwork in the Real Estate Registry Directorate in Rural Damascus governorate.

The report reaches a number of conclusions. Most prominently, provisional seizure orders issued by the Ministry of Finance against the residents of Zakya town in Rural Damascus governorate have no judicial grounds, due to being issued based on security authorities’ decisions. This further proves that the regime’s security apparatus controls all aspects of the state institutions which are subjugated to the service of the interests of the security apparatus. Furthermore, the Law on Managing and Investing Transferrable and Non-Transferrable Assets That Were Seized Pursuant to an Unappealable Judicial Ruling is the worst legislation yet introduced in relation to stripping citizens of their property.

The report calls on the UN Security Council and the UN to expedite the process of bringing about a political resolution in Syria in accordance with Geneva Communiqué 1, and UN Security Council resolutions 2118 and 2254, which will help to secure the release of political prisoners, end torture, and end the operations of exceptional security courts. Moreover, the UN Security Council and the UN must condemn the Syrian regime’s hegemony over the three branches of government, and expose its practices of promulgating laws through which it can seize the assets of IDPs, refugees, forcibly disappeared persons, and killed victims who have not been registered as dead.

The report also calls on the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) to give a clear image of the sheer monstrosity of the laws promulgated by the Syrian regime before the Security Council and all the world states. The report also makes a number of additional recommendations.

Press release: (Download the full report below)

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released a report to mark World Refugee Day 2024, in which the group notes that it has documented the arrest by Syrian regime forces of at least 4,714 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to Syria. SNHR has also documented the killing of 367 civilians, including 56 children, 34 women, and 43 who died due to torture, to date in Syria in the year 2024.

The report notes that the violations, which caused the displacement of millions of Syrians from their country in the first place, are still taking place across Syria. Indeed, the report stresses, even more Syrians than previously are now seeking asylum abroad. As a result of these violations that threaten fundamental human rights and human dignity, and to which there is no apparent prospect of any end in the foreseeable future or of the perpetrators being held to account, hundreds more Syrians are now trying to sell their properties and flee their homeland. The Syrian refugee population, currently estimated at 6.7 million, is today the largest single refugee population worldwide.

The report notes that SNHR has documented the killing of 367 civilians, including 56 children and 34 women, at the hands of the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since January 2024 up until June 2024. Of these, 53 civilians, including eight children and four women, were killed by Syrian regime forces, while five, including three children and one woman, were killed by Russian forces. Moreover, four of these civilians, including one child, were killed by ISIS, while another 16, including one child and one woman, were killed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Furthermore, 10 of the civilians, including one child, were killed by all armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA), while another 33, including eight children, were killed by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Lastly, 246 of the 367 civilians, including 34 children and 28 women, were killed by other parties.

The report also notes that SNHR documented 43 deaths due to torture, including that of one child, in the detention centers operated by the various parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since January 2024 up until June 2024. Of these, 22 died at the hands of regime forces, while 13 died at the hands of HTS. Moreover, four each died at the hands of both all armed opposition factions/SNA, and the SDF.

As the report further reveals, SNHR has documented that no fewer than 828 of those arrested between January and June 2024, including 44 children and 17 women, are still under arrest/forcibly disappeared. Of this total, 398 individuals, including five children and six women, were arrested by Syrian regime forces, while 59 others were arrested by the HTS. Another 140 of the detainees, including one child and six women, were arrested by all armed opposition factions/SNA, while the remaining 231 people detained, including 38 children and five women, were arrested by the SDF.

The report stresses that the responsibility for assessing the situation in Syria falls on the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI), international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, and active and specialist domestic groups such as SNHR. All these bodies have confirmed that Syria is unsafe.

To that end, SNHR has proven conclusively in dozens of reports that returning refugees are subjected to the same violations suffered by local residents in Syria, amid an absence of any credible legal environment and the predominance of oppression, despotism, and the centralization of authority. There can be no free and dignified return to Syria for refugees without first realizing a political transition in the country towards a democratic government that respects human rights.

Since the start of 2014 up until June 2024, SNHR has documented no fewer than 4,714 cases of arbitrary arrest/detention by Syrian regime forces of returning IDPs and refugees. Of these, 2,402 have been released, while 2,312 remain under arrest, including 1,521 who have been subsequently categorized as forcibly disappeared persons. Of the 4,714 arrested or detained, 3,532, including 251 children and 214 women (adult female), were refugees returning from countries of asylum or residence to their original places of residence in Syria. The Syrian regime has released 2,149 of the 3,532 arrested, while continuing to detain the remaining 1,383, 969 of whom have been subsequently categorized as forcibly disappeared persons. Additionally, 168 individuals, including six children and nine women, were forcibly repatriated from Lebanon since the start of April 2023 up until June 2024. Most of these were arrested by the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence branch in al-Masna area on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Lastly, 1,014 of those arrested, including 22 children and 19 women, were IDPs returning from their areas of forced displacement to regime-held areas. Of those detained, the Syrian regime has released 253, while 761 remain under arrest, including 549 who have been subsequently categorized as forcibly disappeared persons.

SNHR has also documented the deaths of 39 of the returning refugees and IDPs due to torture in regime detention centers during the same period: 31 of these victims were refugees returning from their countries of asylum and eight were returning IDPs, six of whom had previously been forcibly deported from regime-controlled areas to northern Syria under the forced displacement agreements struck with the Syrian regime. SNHR has also documented no fewer than 93 cases of sexual violence against returning refugees in the same period.

The refoulment of refugees and the forced repatriation of Syrian refugees constitute blatant violations of customary international law. Any governments carrying out such practices bear legal responsibility for any torture, killing, enforced disappearance, and other violations potentially perpetrated by the Syrian regime against those forced to return, in addition, of course, to the Syrian regime’s direct responsibility for such violations.

The report stresses that seeking asylum is the right of every Syrian. Every state in which Syrians have requested asylum must grant them that right. The Syrian regime has committed and is committing numerous violations against the Syrian people that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. Meanwhile, the other parties to the conflict have committed a multitude of violations against the Syrian people, some of which amount to war crimes.

The report calls on the governments of states hosting Syrian refugees, especially neighboring countries which house the largest proportion of refugees, to stop their constant threats to deport these refugees back to Syria, which only causes further distress and anxiety amongst already traumatized refugees, threatens their material stability, and hinders the processes of social integration.

The report adds that the world’s states should uphold their responsibilities regarding the refugee crisis by taking in more refugees, instead of leaving neighboring countries to be overwhelmed by their refugee populations even as financial pledges of assistance keep declining. Democratic states must continue to take in refugees from neighboring countries, while raising their financial support for these states.

The report also makes a number of additional recommendations.

Press Release:

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released today a statement, marking World Refugee Days, in which the group stressed that Syria is unsafe, as the return of millions of refugees hinges on realizing a democratic political change. Moreover, SNHR called on the Greek authorities and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to launch an investigation into the causes of the sinking of the boat carrying asylum seekers that was heading for Greece, which resulted in the death of 37 Syrians.

The Violations by the Syrian Regime and Other Parties to the Conflict Are the Main Reason Behind Millions of Syrians Seeking Asylum

The statement notes that the violations by the Syrian regime and the other parties to the conflict have led to the displacement of half the Syrian people, who either became internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees in other countries worldwide, while tens of thousands more are seeking asylum in other countries in light of the continued violations and, even worse, of other states restoring relations with the very same party committing these violations, which has eradicated any prospect of displaced Syrians being able to return to Syria anytime soon. The statement stresses that the ongoing violations by the various parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria are the primary cause of more and more refugees fleeing. While It may be true that the rate of violations has fallen somewhat in the past two years, the cumulative effect of 12 years and counting of violations has brought about a Syria with an atrocious human rights situation, riven by killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, forced displacement, torture, pillaging of land and properties, and a widespread state of chronic insecurity under which assassinations and remote bombings have become prevalent, with these and many other violations combining to cause upheaval across Syria. In light of these violations that threaten the very fundamental tenets of human rights and human dignity, with no foreseeable end to this suffering or any feasible way to hold their perpetrators accountable, hundreds of Syrians are trying to sell their properties, flee their country, and seek asylum in nations worldwide.

The statement recorded the death of 37 Syrians, including seven women, who were mostly from Daraa governorate. The victims drowned to death after a fishing boat, which was carrying them along other asylum seekers from different nationalities including Egyptians, Palestinians, and Pakistanis, capsized and sank on June 14, 2023, south of Greece, approximately 47 nautical miles of the coasts of Pylos. The vessel, which carried 700-750 asylum seekers, including women and children, according to estimates, launched off the Libyan coasts towards Europe on the morning of Friday, June 9, 2023. As the statement further reveals, the boat sent out its first distress call on the morning of Tuesday, June 13, while the Greek Coast Guard announced it launched a wide search and rescue operation on the morning of June 14 after the boat had sank. Meanwhile, the UNHCR and the International Orgnaization for Migration stressed that search and rescue at sea is a “legal and humanitarian imperative.”

The statement condemns the slow response to the distress call, and calls on the Greek government and the UNHCR to launch an investigation into this incident and make its findings available to the public and the families of the victims, hold those responsible accountable, and compensate the victims.

Refoulment of Refugees and Forced Repatriation of Asylum Seekers Constitute Violations of International Law

As the statement further reveals, no government in the world has the right to assess the situation in Syria and then make the decision to deport Syrian refugees back to Syria based on such an assessment. This task, namely assessing the situation in Syria, is the responsibility of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI), the international human rights organizations, and of active local human rights organizations working to document violations in Syria, such as SNHR. All these entities have confirmed that Syria is unsafe.

The statement reveals that, from the start of 2014 until June 2023, SNHR documented no fewer than 3,367 arbitrary arrests against refugees returning to their homes in Syria from countries of asylum or residence, with the victims including 246 children and 212 women (adult female), and with all these individuals being detained by Syrian regime forces. Today, a total of 2,094 of these people have been released, while 1,273 are still detained, including 923 people who have subsequently been categorized as cases of enforced disappearance. The statement also documents no fewer than 74 cases of sexual violence against returning refugees during the same period.

Moreover, the statement underscores that readmitting the Syrian regime into the Arab League does not mean that Syria is in any way safe for the return of refugees since the regime is still committing crimes against humanity. SNHR is seriously concerned that any restoration of relations with the Syrian regime may lead to Syrian refugees being forced to return to Syria; indeed, as of this writing, SNHR has already recorded the refoulment of no fewer than 874 Syrian refugees from Lebanon since the beginning of April 2023, including 86 women and 104 children. Of these, we have recorded the arrest of 87 individuals, including two children, five women, and two members of the same family, at the hands of the Syrian regime’s Military Intelligence forces in the al-Masna border area.

The statement further stresses that the refoulment of refugees and the forced repatriation of Syrian refugees constitute blatant violations of customary international law. Any governments carrying out such practices bear legal responsibility for any torture, killing, enforced disappearance, and other violations potentially perpetrated by the Syrian regime against forced returnees, in addition, of course, to the Syrian regime’s direct responsibility for these violations.

The statement calls on the governments of states hosting Syrian refugees, especially neighboring countries which house the largest proportion of refugees, to stop their constant threats against these refugees of deportation back to Syria, which only causes further anxiety amongst already traumatized refugees, threatens their material stability, and hinders the processes of social integration.

Download the full statement

UN aid convoy entering via Bab al-Hawa crossing – July 28, 2022

Press release: (Download the full report below)

Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights today released a report entitled, “Russia’s Veto Blocking the UN Cross-Border Relief Aid is Unlawful and its Only Aim is to Seize UN Relief Aid”, stressing that Russia’s exploitation of the UN relief aid must be stopped.
The 11-page report cites the figures released by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which estimates that Syria is still housing the highest number of IDPs worldwide, currently totaling 6.8 million, adding that 2023 would see 15.3 million people in Syria in need of humanitarian assistance, a record high since the beginning of the conflict, including 2.1 million IDPs living in IDPs camps.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, Director of SNHR says:
“The residents of northwestern Syria rely more than anything on UN cross-border relief aid. Russia has not been above taking advantage of their heartbreaking conditions and using them as hostages. To that end, Russia is exploiting the international community to attain material and political gains. We have said time and time again for years that the international community needs to neutralize Russia’s exploitation attempts once and for all, and must act to deliver impartial, indispensable UN relief aid without having to ask for a green light from the Security Council.”
The report stresses that SNHR was one of the first groups to assert in numerous international forums and media interviews that delivering UN cross-border relief aid to Syria does not require the security council’s permission. SNHR has also released three reports affirming that the delivery of UN cross-border aid is a legal activity that does not require any permission from the UN Security Council, especially in the context of the Syrian conflict. This rests on three main reasons: First, an intervention is unlawful when it is forcibly carried out (it should be noted here that this does not necessarily need to be military, with any forcible intervention being unlawful). SNHR does not believe that delivering essential humanitarian aid can be classified as a forcible intervention, since UN aid workers are unarmed and impartial. Second, humanitarian aid passes through Turkey and Iraq. Both states have sanctioned the passage of aid through their land to areas of Syria under the control of armed opposition factions and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The controlling forces in the regions for which the aid is destined, meanwhile, welcome the entry of the aid since it is intended for areas housing millions of forcibly displaced persons. Therefore, such acts do not constitute any infringement upon regional integrity. Furthermore, this aid is delivered with the approval of the controlling authorities, and as such no forcible intervention is involved. Finally, necessity is the decisive issue in this situation, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria is of paramount necessity.
The report stresses that the Security Council has regrettably politicized what should be a purely humanitarian cause. The Security Council put the issue to a vote in the presence of Russia, which has been supporting the Syrian regime politically and militarily and has veto powers. Thus, the Security Council gave Russia a golden opportunity to turn the aid issue into a card it can use for bargaining and for imposing pressure to attain political gains, whether in the context of the situation in Syria or other international issues.
Moreover, the report reveals that Russia has used its veto powers four times to reduce the number of border crossings from four (al-Ramtha, al-Ya’rubiya, Bab al-Salam, and Bab al-Hawa) to two (only Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa), with an extension period of merely six months, and then to only one crossing (Bab al-Hawa). On discussing the next extension, Russia managed to introduce the subject of so-called cross-line aid delivery, referring to aid coming from the Syrian regime’s territories to northern Syria, thereby paving the way to shutting down the last crossing left in accordance with Resolution 2585 (July 2021), which was the first resolution to refer to improving the means of delivering humanitarian assistance inside Syria and to early recovery projects.
As the report concludes, not only has Russa limited the effectiveness of the Security Council resolution on cross-border relief aid delivery by reducing it to one crossing, but Russia’s officials have also threatened on numerous occasions to shut down the crossing and completely cancel the mechanism.
The report also reveals that SNHR has monitored the entry of only 10 convoys from the Syrian regime’s territories to northwestern Syria in accordance with resolution 2585, five of which did so before the last Security Council resolution 2642 was adopted (July 12, 2022), and five after the resolution. The report stresses that, as can be seen from the third and fourth convoys, which collectively consisted of approximately 34 trucks only, compared to 1,377 trucks in the UN cross-border relief aid convoy that entered Syria via the borders last October and November, the aid delivered from the Syrian regime’s territories account for an extremely insignificant percentage (less than 2.5 percent) of the overall cross-border relief aid delivered, which is further damning evidence of the Syrian regime’s lack of seriousness about upholding its commitments and making the relief aid coming from its territories a comparable alternative to cross-border aid delivery.
The report concludes that Russia cannot use the Syrian regime’s sovereignty and permission as a pretext, since the regime itself is the party primarily responsible for displacing millions of people. The Syrian regime also is not concerned about whether or not UN relief aid reach the displaced. The report further stresses that, in cases of armed conflicts, all civilians must have access to all necessary assistance according to international customary law.
The report calls on the Security Council to relinquish control of the entry of UN cross-border aid, which is currently delivered under the aegis of the UN General Assembly and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), and completely abstain from the use of the veto in a way that goes against international human rights law, especially in regard to cases of crimes against humanity such as forced displacement.
The report also calls on the UN OCHA and the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume deliveries of aid via the al-Ya’rubiya and Bab al-Salama crossings as soon as possible, to refuse to succumb to the Syrian regime’s exploitation, and to expose the regime’s seizure and control of aid, in addition to making a number of other recommendations.

Download the full report

Displaced children in a camp in Rajo town, Aleppo, following a blizzard that hit the area – January 19, 2022 | Photo by Muhammad Nour

Press release:
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today issued its report entitled ‘On World Refugee Day: Ongoing Atrocious Violations in Syria Are the Main Reason for Generating More Refugees’, stressing that refugees and IDPs, who now comprise half the Syrian population, will be unable to safely return to Syria until it achieves a political transition towards democracy.

The nine-page report provides the record of the most notable violations as documented in the SNHR’s database, with the percentages of their distribution given according to the perpetrators of violations, with SNHR documenting the deaths of 228,893 civilians, including 29,791 children and 16,252 women (adult female), in Syria at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces, between March 2011 and June 2022. The report notes that the Syrian regime is by far the most prolific killer of civilians in Syria, accounting for nearly 88% of the total death toll, followed by Russian forces who are responsible for nearly 3%, meaning that the Syrian regime and affiliated Iranian militias, together with the Russian regime, are jointly responsible for the deaths of nearly 91% of the civilians killed since the start of the popular uprising in March 2011.

The report reveals that at least 14,685 individuals, including 181 children and 94 women (adult female), have been killed to date under torture at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria. Regarding arbitrary arrest/detention or enforced disappearance, the report notes that at least 151,462 individuals, including 5,093 children and 9,774 women (adult female), are still under arrest/detained or forcibly disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria, having been arrested between March 2011 and June 2022.

The report stresses that the atrocious violations are still ongoing in Syria, committed by various parties to the conflict and the controlling forces, adding that these primary violations have been the direct cause of the forced displacement of millions of Syrians. As a result of all this, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that nearly 13.4 million Syrians are now either IDPs or refugees, including nearly 6.7 million IDPs, some of whom have been displaced more than once, and nearly 6.6 million refugees, the vast majority of whom are in neighboring countries.

The report notes that some of the violations committed against the people of Syria have affected a number of the returning refugees, despite the very small number of refugees returning compared to the total number of Syrian refugees now scattered around the world. The report further notes that the harsh conditions in the countries of asylum, primarily neighboring countries, have forced some Syrian refugees to return to unsafe areas under the Syrian regime’s control.
As the report further reveals, some of the returning refugees have been subjected to many types of violations following their return, most notably arbitrary arrest and the accompanying violations which inevitably follow this, namely torture, followed by enforced disappearance. Since the beginning of 2014 up to June 2022, SNHR has documented at least 3,057 cases of arbitrary arrest, including of 244 children and 203 women (adult female), of refugees who returned from countries of asylum or residence to their areas of residence in Syria (with the vast majority of these returning from Lebanon). All those detained were arbitrarily arrested by Syrian regime forces. The Syrian regime subsequently released 1,874 of these detainees, while 1,183 of those arrested remained in detention, with 813 of them classified as forcibly disappeared. The report also records at least 72 cases of sexual violence against returning refugees during the same period.
The report points out that although some countries that wish to return Syrian refugees are attempting to justify their position by citing the ‘presidential amnesty’ recently issued by the Syrian regime, the documentation process carried out by the SNHR has confirmed that only about 539 people have been released from the regime’s various civil and military prisons and security branches in the Syrian governorates, including 61 women and 16 people who were children at the time of their arrest, between May 1, 2022, and June 13, 2022. The SNHR also confirms that the Syrian regime is still detaining some 132,000 other people and has launched new waves of arbitrary arrests since issuing the amnesty decree, detaining a further 57 Syrian citizens.
The report also stresses that the attempts by a number of European countries to deport refugees constitute a violation of international law; in this context comes the British government’s attempt to transfer a group of refugees, including Syrian refugees, to Rwanda. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has confirmed that Rwanda is an unsafe country whose own citizens and other residents suffer from serious human rights violations, which the British government itself has criticized. The report adds that no government has the right to assess the situation in Syria and then, based on this assessment, take decisions to deport the Syrian refugees on its territory to Syria.

The report recommends that the governments of countries sheltering Syrian refugees should stop their constant threats of deportation to Syria, because these constitute an additional source of psychological anxiety, a threat to refugees’ financial stability, and disrupt their social integration processes. The report also recommends that the UNHCR should take clear, repeated, and public positions in responding to governments that constantly threaten and manipulate refugees in accordance with domestic political interests.
The report also provides several other additional recommendations.

Download the full report

Press release:
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes in its report released today entitled “UN Cross-Border Aid Must Continue to Enter Syria, Even If Russia Vetoes It” that Russia is a party to the Syrian conflict, using its UN veto even while it and the Syrian regime continue to perpetrate the crime of forced displacement, which constitutes a crime against humanity, with the report further stressing that millions of internally displaced Syrians in northwest Syria are in dire need of UN cross-border aid.

The 13-page report reveals that the imminent renewal of the UN resolution on cross-border aid delivery into Syria is again being exploited by Russia to blackmail the United Nations and donor countries, with Russia and the Syrian regime effectively treating millions of Syrians who they displaced, whose homes they have destroyed, and whom they continue to terrorize, as hostages.

As the report further notes, despite the horrendous conditions they face in the areas of displacement, the vast majority of the internally displaced people have chosen not to return to the areas controlled by the Syrian regime and its allies, for fear of the brutal security services’ practices.

The report points out that, as data from the United Nations and international and local organizations confirm, the practices of Russia and the Syrian regime are causing the already dire conditions of internally displaced persons in northwest Syria to deteriorate further, going from bad to worse, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimating the number of displaced persons in this area at approximately 4.1 million Syrian citizens who are dependent on aid to meet their basic needs; nearly 2.4 million of these people receive aid through a monthly cross-border delivery mechanism.
In a related context, the report notes that internally displaced people are the most vulnerable group in society, having lost their homes, possessions, and livelihoods, and facing scarce job opportunities. Therefore, most members of this group are wholly dependent on UN humanitarian aid to survive, and if this aid declines or stops, Syria will face a terrible famine. The need for UN aid in northwest Syria exceeds the threshold of necessity, reaching the level of critical need that threatens the growth and life of the displaced, especially pregnant and lactating women and newborn babies.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR’s Director, says:
“The United States of America, France, and the UK should not submit to Russian blackmail in the Security Council and must stress that the entry of UN cross-border aid, which is neutral and essential, as well as being approved by those controlling both sides of the border, does not need permission from the Security Council. Additionally, despite being a party to the Syrian conflict, Russia is using its veto within the context of being a perpetrator of the crime of forced displacement alongside the Syrian regime, which amounts to crimes against humanity.”

The report notes that the Security Council has already issued ten resolutions related to the issue of UN humanitarian aid in Syria, the first of which was Resolution 2139 (February 22, 2014), which called for humanitarian aid to be allowed to arrive in Syria across conflict lines; this was followed by Resolution No. 2165 of July 2014, which allowed the United Nations to deliver cross-border aid without the permission of the Syrian regime. This resolution has been extended on five consecutive occasions without any amendments to its articles.
As the report further notes, Russia has escalated its blackmail strategy since the beginning of 2020. Due to the Russian-Chinese veto, the Security Council failed to pass a draft resolution to renew the provision of cross-border aid through the four border crossings. After complex negotiations, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2504, which allowed the delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid through two border crossings. Through this resolution, aid continued to enter northwestern Syria, while the northeastern region was denied aid entry through the al Ya’rubiya crossing, with the aid allowed through limited to that coming from Damascus. This negatively affected the residents of this region. Russia succeeded in restricting the entry of UN aid again after that, with Resolution 2533, which was adopted in July 2020, being limited to allowing the entry of aid through only one crossing.
Lastly, Russia achieved another of its objectives by introducing the concept of cross-line aid, referring to aid coming from Syrian regime-held areas toward the north of Syria, in preparation for the closure of the only remaining border crossing, as the report notes. In July 2021, Resolution 2585 extended the humanitarian aid delivery mechanism to Syria through the Bab al Hawa border crossing with Turkey for six months only, subject to automatic extension for another six months and the delivery of cross-line aid.

The report stresses that the delivery of UN cross-border aid is a legal act and does not require permission from the Security Council, adding that there is no rule in international law stating that the UNOCHA’s cross-border aid delivery is in any way illegal. The Security Council, however, monopolized this humanitarian mission and incorporated it within its own powers through the adoption of Resolution 2165; while this resolution appears, on the surface, to be supportive of UN aid, its essence is concerned with the arbitrary expansion of the Security Council’s powers and of its control over issues outside its competence, with humanitarian aid having become subject to blackmail and political horse-trading regardless of the needs of millions of Syrians and potentially of non-Syrians in other countries. The report adds that all legal experts around the world must confront the Security Council’s hegemony over the issue of cross-border aid delivery.

As the report further notes, Security Council Resolution 2585 included two new articles not included in the preceding nine Security Council resolutions. The first concerns delivering humanitarian aid across lines from Damascus, while the second is related to improving the methods of delivering humanitarian aid inside Syria and early recovery projects. After the resolution was adopted, we indicated that these articles are considered a concession by the democratic countries in favor of Russia and a Russian prelude in its relentless quest to end the entry of UN cross-border aid, allowing the Syrian regime to fully control all UN aid in Syria. The report reveals that the total number of UN cross-line aid convoys coming from the areas controlled by the Syrian regime in an entire year is five, which included only 71 trucks, constituting approximately 0.75% of the total cross-border aid. The report stresses that the Syrian regime has a long and well-proven history of looting, delaying, and obstructing the entry of UN aid.

As the report also states, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI) issued a press statement on May 26, 2022, warning that it would be a failure of the highest order if the UN Security Council did not extend present cross-border aid to Syria, which ends next July 10.
The report stresses that under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States have the responsibility to seek to provide assistance to their residents; the Syrian regime, however, has withheld consent for UN aid provision to deliver aid through the regime to control and loot as much of this aid as possible.
The report adds that Russia cannot invoke the concept of sovereignty and the consent of the Syrian regime because it is the leading cause of the displacement of the millions of deliberately displaced people whose suffering it is now using for leverage, and does not care about delivering UN aid to them.
This report clearly shows that there is no need to obtain permission from the UN Security Council or consent of the Syrian regime for the United Nations to continue delivering cross-border aid to millions of Syrian citizens who desperately need it.

The report recommends that the UN Security Council should remove its authority over the control of the entry of UN cross-border aid, as this issue falls within the remit of the United Nations General Assembly and the UNOCHA.
The report also recommends that the UN General Assembly should take additional steps towards reaching a resolution allowing the delivery of cross-border aid in cases of necessity where aid is being arbitrarily withheld, especially in light of the paralysis of the Security Council, as the use of the veto is fundamentally inconsistent with human rights, while the expansion of the powers of the Security Council is taking place at the expense of human rights, including humanitarian aid.
The report also provides other additional recommendations.

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Press release (Link below to download full report):
 
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reveals in a report released today, entitled “Widespread Violations Committed by the Syrian and Iranian Regimes against Daraa after Taking Control over It in July 2018 to Crush Any Opposition to the Syrian Regime”, that abrogating the terms of the agreements after the passage of time is a policy the Syrian regime has followed in the various areas it has regained control over through settlement agreements.
 
The 23-page report provides a sequential record of the most notable events in the Southern region of Syria since the collapse of the previous de-escalation agreement until the 2021 agreements, detailing how the Syrian-Iranian regime forces’ seizing control over large areas in July 2018 led to immediate violations, most notably the forced displacement of thousands of people in the region, and that the people who decided to stay were subjected to multiple types of violations by the Syrian-Iranian regime forces. As the report reveals, these violations were specifically aimed at emptying the region of its leading figures and activists in order to facilitate gradual regime control over it in the medium and long term, with the report further noting that arbitrary arrests/ enforced disappearances have increased since then, along with torture, killings and assassinations, the conscription of young people in the region into the ranks of Syrian regime forces, and the seizure of land and property, in addition to bombardment using ‘Elephant’ missiles and improvised munitions targeting civilian areas, causing casualties, including women and children. The report summarizes the record of the most notable violations committed by Syrian regime forces since they took control of the region in July 2018 up till October 2021.
 
The report also covers the developments that the region witnessed between August 9 and October 2021, as well as the developments that followed the agreement reached between the Negotiations Committee in Daraa city and a Russian delegation representing the Syrian regime on September 5, 2021, as well as the subsequent similar agreements witnessed by most villages in the eastern and western suburbs of Daraa. in addition, the report summarizes the record of the most notable violations committed by Syrian regime forces between August 9 and October 2021.
 
The report relies on direct testimonies from individuals who have been forcibly displaced, which SNHR acquired through speaking directly with witnesses, with none of these testimonies, including the five provided in this report, being cited from any open sources. The report stresses that it doesn’t go into the details of the negotiation processes, military clashes and the complex battle for control between Iran and Russia, adding that since SNHR’s primary focus remains on ensuring that civilians are not targeted in military operations, that all parties uphold and respect the rules of international humanitarian law during clashes, and respect international human rights law for the people who decided to stay, and that their fundamental rights are not violated.
 
As the report notes, the period between August 9 and October 2021 was characterized by constant attempts to reach an agreement between the Negotiation Committee in Daraa city and the Russian side representing the Syrian regime. Every time such an agreement was reached, however, Syrian regime forces would immediately undermine it over the following days by launching artillery and missile attacks on residential neighborhoods in Daraa al Balad, Tareeq al Sadd and the Daraa Camp with the specific objective of obtaining the greatest possible concessions.
 
The report adds that the Syrian regime used heavy machine guns and mortar shells to bombard residential neighborhoods in Daraa city, and that it escalated the pace of its attacks since August 23, 2021. The report documents the Syrian regime’s use of homemade ‘Elephant’ and Golan-type missiles, which are modified missiles using a large warhead, known for their great destructive capacity and lack of accuracy in hitting the target. The report records that between August 23 and September 5, at least 185 attacks were launched using missiles, targeting residential areas in Daraa al Balad neighborhoods in Daraa city, 94 of which took place between August 28 and 30, adding that nine attacks targeted vital civilian facilities.
 
In addition, the report provides maps identifying the most notable sites attacked by Syrian regime forces as well as the most notable sites of missile platforms used by the Syrian regime forces to launch these attacks.
 
As the report reveals, the living conditions of the population have deteriorated as a result of the siege imposed on neighborhoods in Daraa city, which began on June 24, 2021, and continued for about 20 days, and then became dependent on the progress of the agreements and the extent of the Syrian regime’s satisfaction with the terms agreed upon. The report notes that every time implementation of the agreement was hampered, Syrian regime forces responded by closing roads and preventing the entry of food and medicine.
 
The report further notes that as a result of the military operations led by Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias on the neighborhoods of Daraa al Balad, Tareeq al Sadd and the Palestinian refugee camp, at least 36,000 of these neighborhoods’ residents have been displaced towards the neighborhoods of Daraa al Mahatta, which are completely under the control of the Syrian regime and thus relatively calm. The report adds that thousands of families were forced to flee on foot with little baggage, with the majority of these families forced to live in schools and other public facilities in the neighborhoods of al Matar, al Qosour, al Kashef and al Sahari.
 
The report further notes that the Syrian regime’s military divisions – the 4th, 5th, 9th and 15th – backed by Iranian militias, seized dozens of civilian homes in areas of Gharz, al Shayyah and al Nakhla in farms to the south and east of Daraa city, along with others in al Dahiya area and the al Manshiya neighborhood of Daraa city. This came after civilian residents fled from these areas which were turned into the front lines for clashes between Syrian regime forces and affiliated militias on one hand, and fighters from the area on the other.
 
Between July 2018 and October 2021, the report documents the deaths of 361 civilians, including 47 children and 26 women (adult female), most of whom were killed in Inkhel city in the northern suburbs of Daraa, Nawa city in the western suburbs of Daraa, and the neighborhoods of Daraa al Balad. The report also documents the arrest of 1,589 individuals by Syrian regime forces, including 13 children and 22 women (adult female). These arrests were concentrated in Nasib town in the eastern suburbs of Daraa and Ataman village in the northern suburbs of Daraa. The report further documents that Syrian regime forces carried out 19 attacks on vital civilian facilities. During the same period, as the report reveals, the military operations launched by Syrian regime forces, backed by Iranian militias, have caused the displacement of at least 40,000 people from the neighborhoods of Daraa al Balad, Tareeq al Sadd, the Palestinian Refugee Camp, the Gharz area and Tal al Sultan, to the neighborhoods of Daraa al Mahatta, in addition to the people displaced and forcibly displaced from al Sanamayn city and Um Batna village.
 
The report calls on the UN Security Council and the United Nations to accelerate work on the comprehensive political transition process that will ensure the start of progress along a path of transitional justice and true national reconciliation based on accountability for the perpetrators of violations and respect for basic human rights and a transition towards democracy. The report stresses that the Syrian issue should be referred to the International Criminal Court and all those who are responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes should be held accountable. The report also calls on the UN Security Council and the United Nations to investigate claims that the Iranian regime is continuing to supply weapons, equipment, and militias to the Syrian regime, with the report providing a set of additional recommendations.
 

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Press release (Link below to download full report):
 
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes in its report released today that the Syrian regime is taking revenge on Daraa governorate for its peaceful and civilized rejection of the regime’s ‘presidential elections’ through siege, bombardment, killing and arbitrary arrests to end freedom of opinion and expression and achieve absolute control.
 
The 12-page report provides a brief background on the gradual advance by the Syrian, Iranian and Russian regime in extending their control over Southern Syria and the failure of all agreements to protect civilians from forced displacement. The report also summarizes the most notable violations committed by the Syrian regime and its allies in the Southern region of Syria between June 23 and August 9, 2021, without going into the details of the negotiation processes, military clashes and the complex conflict of control between Iran and Russia, noting that what matters most to SNHR in this context is civilians’ safety, ensuring that civilians are not targeted in military operations, and that both parties uphold and respect the rules of international humanitarian law during the clashes, and respect international human rights law.
The report relies on direct interviews with members of the Negotiation Committees in Daraa governorate, and civilians who have been displaced, which were obtained through speaking directly with witnesses, with none of the testimonies, including the two provided in the report, cited from any open sources.
 
The report explains that, in this context, Southern Syria is distinguished from the other regions of the country by being subject to another agreement that is more important than the Astana talks, which is the Russian-US bilateral ceasefire agreement that entered into force on July 9, 2017. The two agreements provided for a comprehensive cessation of hostilities and aerial bombardment, which succeeded to some extent in ending military operations until mid-June 2018, when the Syrian regime, backed by Iranian forces and the Russian air force, led a military campaign against the Southern region of Syria (parts of the governorates of Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda), which resulted in the Syrian regime completing its control over the region, forcibly ending the de-escalation agreement, with the US-Russian agreement being revoked.
 
The report adds that new agreements came into force in Daraa governorate after July 2018 between the Syrian regime on the one hand and factions of the Armed Opposition on the other, being concluded under Russian auspices. These agreements were distinguished by their different terms between one area and another, despite containing supposedly comprehensive terms, leading to the establishment of different circumstances of control, as some areas are completely under the control of the Syrian regime, while there are still areas remaining under the control of former Armed Opposition factions (fighters from among the people of the region), where the regime’s presence is limited to civil institutions. Meanwhile, other areas have remained under the control of the Fifth Corps, which consists mostly of former members of the Armed Opposition factions backed by Russian forces.
 
The report reveals that the Syrian regime began taking revenge through military escalation against Daraa governorate for its residents’ peaceful and civilized rejection of the regime’s illegitimate ‘presidential elections’, as the regime requested on June 23, 2021, through the Russian officer in charge of the Southern region of Syria, that the heads of the Negotiation Committees in Daraa surrender a quantity of light weapons; when the committees refused this request, considering it contrary to the terms of previous agreements, Syrian regime forces responded by closing the roads leading to the neighborhoods of Daraa al Balad and Tareeq al Sadd and to both camps housing Palestinian refugees and IDPs from the Golan, leaving only the Sajna Bridge Road, which connects Daraa al Mahatta and Daraa al Balad, where three military checkpoints are stationed, with regime personnel carrying out rigorous searches of pedestrians.
 
As the report reveals, the closure of these roads was followed by a dangerous military escalation, as Syrian regime forces deployed massive numbers of military reinforcements and threatened the area with a massive military operation. The report refers to the agreement that was reached between the regime’s security committee and the Negotiation Committee in Daraa city on July 24, 2021, which stipulated that the siege imposed on the area would be lifted in exchange for the people surrendering some individual light weapons to the Syrian regime, conducting a “security settlement” for nearly 200 individuals, and establishing three military points. The report reveals how this agreement was clearly violated by military groups from the Syrian regime forces’ Fourth and Ninth Divisions, both backed by Iranian militias, when they stormed al Shayyah area in the southern plains of the Daraa al Balad area in Daraa city and the Gharz area in the eastern part of the city.
 
The report provides details of the attacks carried out by the Syrian regime that resulted in civilian casualties in al Yadouda village in the western suburbs of Daraa, Jasem city in the northwestern suburbs of Daraa, Busra al Sham Square in Daraa city, and Gharz area, east of Tareeq al Sadd neighborhood, as well as outlining the most notable arrest incidents during the period covered.
 
The report also includes a summary of the most notable violations committed by Syrian regime forces between June 23 and August 9, 2021, as well as documenting the deaths of 11 civilians, including five children and one woman, most of them in al Yadouda village in the western suburbs of Daraa. The report also documents the arrest of 104 individuals, including two children and two women. In addition, the Syrian regime carried out two attacks on a mosque in Daraa city. As the report reveals, the military operations launched by Syrian regime forces, backed by Iranian militias, have so far caused the displacement of at least 35,000 people from the neighborhoods of Daraa al Balad, Tareeq al Sadd and Daraa Camp to the neighborhoods of Daraa al Mahatta.
 
The report calls on the UN Security Council and the United Nations to accelerate in the comprehensive political transition process that ensures the start of progress along a path of transitional justice and true national reconciliation based on accountability for the perpetrators of violations and respect for basic human rights and a transition towards democracy.
The report stresses that the Syrian issue should be referred to the International Criminal Court and all those who are responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes should be held accountable.
The report also calls on the UN Security Council and the United Nations to monitor claims that the Iranian regime is continuing to supply weapons, equipment and militias to the Syrian regime, to ensure the urgent entry of medicine and food for the besieged families and to put pressure on the Syrian regime to allow freedom of entry and exit.
 
The report also provides recommendations for the international community and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) to Launch investigations into the cases included in the report.
 

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Press release (Link below to download full report):
 
Paris – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) states in its report released today that the UN aid to northern Syria, which is neutral, absolutely essential, and delivered with the approval of the controlling forces, does not need permission from the Security Council, stressing that the Syrian regime, which is accused of stealing and looting humanitarian aid, obstructing its access, and besieging and starving entire areas, cannot be trusted.
 
The 10-page report notes that the United Nations, represented by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), has been subjected to one of the worst forms of extortion, looting and humiliation in the twenty-first century due to the shameful behavior of the Syrian regime, whose aim from the start has been to increase the suffering of the population in areas outside its control, as a form of collective punishment, by deliberately delaying aid for long weeks and months, controlling the quantity of aid distributed and the areas of aid distribution, establishing organizations affiliated with the Syrian regime and its security services, and imposing requirements that all aid deals be conducted through them.
 
As the report further notes, a coalition of senior legal experts, lawyers and human rights defenders ruled in April 2014 that there is no legal obstacle preventing the United Nations from delivering humanitarian aid across the border, since the United Nations meets the conditions for humanitarian action in having the necessary humanitarian, neutral, impartial and unbiased character, with the approval of the controlling forces on the other side of the border (the armed opposition) being guaranteed, and the population there desperately needing aid, while it is unacceptable for the parties to withhold approval except on the grounds of legitimate legal reasons, not for arbitrary ones.
 
As the report reveals, in response to this ruling and to the many articles and statements supporting this approach, the UN Security Council took the initiative to disregard the advice of legal experts and human rights defenders, instead adopting Resolution No. 2165 in July 2014, under which the United Nations and its partners were allowed to deliver aid through four border crossings without the approval of the Syrian regime, which is, as the report describes, superficially supportive of UN aid being delivered, while in its essence the expansion of the Security Council’s powers is arbitrary, and its control over these issues is outside its competence, as there is no rule in international law stating that the UNOCHA’s cross-border aid delivery is illegal.
 
The report further adds that the Syrian regime, its Russian ally and their defenders describe the provision of cross-border aid as a violation of territorial integrity, with the report stating that this general argument is unacceptable. The report provides three additional reasons that further underline why it’s essential to ensure that delivery of cross-border aid is free of Syrian regime influence or Security Council intervention:
One: Prohibited intervention is coercion, and the delivery of necessary humanitarian aid is not coercive intervention; UN relief workers are unarmed and impartial, and relief actions shall not be regarded as interference in the armed conflict or as unfriendly acts.
 
Two: Humanitarian aid passes through Turkey or Iraq, with both countries agreeing to allow the entry of aid to Syria, with aid reaching areas under the control of the Armed Opposition forces or the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the controlling forces welcoming the entry of aid.
Three: Necessity is the main reason for seeking humanitarian aid, with the necessity in northern Syria being the most acute.
 
Fadel Abdul Ghany, Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, says:
“We must always remember that those in need of UN aid are internally displaced persons who have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of aerial bombardment by Russia and the Syrian regime, and who are unable to return home for fear of revenge attacks by the Syrian regime and its militias, meaning that Russia not only helped to destroy their homes and to displace them, but also wants to withhold aid from them, despite IDPs being the poorest and most needy members of society. The Security Council’s authoritarian hand must be lifted from the issue of impartial and essential UN aid.”
 
As the report reveals, Russia’s use of its veto on three occasions to prevent the delivery of UN humanitarian aid is an additional disgrace to the Security Council. In this context, the report calls on the General Assembly to confront the paralysis and blackmail of the Security Council on the issue of humanitarian aid, adding that the UN General Assembly, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, democratic countries and countries supporting the Syrian people are in an exemplary situation to demand that the Security Council stop controlling the decision on cross-border aid, permanently get rid of the periodic blackmail by Russia and the Security Council by threatening to use their veto in the face of extending the decision to approve the delivery of cross-border aid, and issuing a clear decision emphasizing that UN humanitarian cross-border aid does not need a decision from the Security Council or require the permission of the state in the event of the arbitrary withholding of aid affecting the basic human rights of citizens, the foremost of which is the right to life.
 
The report stresses that under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States have the responsibility to seek to provide assistance to their residents, but the Syrian regime has not only besieged entire cities and villages, but has withheld consent for aid provision, obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid and looted it, controlling the distribution areas through its loyalists.
The report adds that all civilians in situations of armed conflict must be able to obtain all necessary assistance.
 
The report recommends that the UN General Assembly should take additional steps towards a resolution allowing the delivery of cross-border aid in cases of necessity where aid is being arbitrarily withheld.
The report also calls on the OCHA and the International Committee of the Red Cross to continue cross-border aid delivery, ignore the Russian veto which is arbitrary and contrary to international law, and return to delivering aid through al Ya’rubiya and Bab al Salam crossings as soon as possible, as well as providing a number of other recommendations.
 

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Paris – Statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
 
June 20 of each year marks World Refugee Day, with the symbolism of this day having a painful and harrowing effect on the Syrian people for nearly ten years now, as millions of Syrians have fled the decade-long internal armed conflict, forcing increasing numbers of citizens to seek asylum.
 
The egregious violations committed by the Syrian regime, some of which amount to crimes against humanity, have been the primary driving force behind Syrians’ quest for asylum, with the other parties to the conflict also practicing various types of violations against each other and within their areas of control, albeit to a far smaller degree.
 
The following is the record of the most notable violations by all the parties to the conflict:
 
A. Extrajudicial killing: The deaths of 227,781 civilians, including 29,520 children and 16,155 women, documented:
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the deaths of at least 227,781 civilians, including 29,250 children and 16,155 women (adult female) in Syria at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces, between March 2011 and June 2021, distributed as follows:
 

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Press release:
 
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The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reveals in its latest report, released today, that public auctions of forcibly displaced people’s lands are another Syrian regime method to seize its opponents’ property in a widespread and deliberate manner, noting that at least 440,000 dunums of agricultural land have been seized by the Syrian regime in the suburbs of Hama and Idlib.
 
The 20-page report notes that the Syrian regime has used various types of terrorism and repression against those who participated in the popular uprising against it, who wish to achieve a political transition towards freedom and democracy, in order to create a general atmosphere of terror that deters anyone considering dissent, with the Syrian regime perpetrating egregious violations in a widespread manner, foremost among which are extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, summary executions, sieges, forced displacement, indiscriminate shelling, and widespread destruction of buildings and vital facilities.
The report further notes that the Syrian regime has also resorted to another form of persecution of its opponents by seizing their lands and properties as an additional form of punishment which also extends to their families, while at the same time enriching the regime and its accomplices through redistributing these stolen and looted assets among the regime’s security services and local militias as a form of ‘reward’ for their services in lieu of cash payment.
 
The report summarizes the most prominent of the laws and decrees enacted by the People’s Assembly in Syria which is affiliated with the state security services, upon which the Syrian regime relies in sanctioning its own theft and looting of the property of its opponents and of residents of the areas that participated in the popular uprising against it. The report adds that these articles of legislation target the majority of the Syrian people, constituting an additional form of collective punishment of those already dispossessed, being clearly discriminatory in nature and bearing a blatantly political and vengeful dimension.
 
The report focuses in particular on the Syrian regime’s newest forms of seizing control over the property of political opponents, with the regime’s forces seizing crops and agricultural lands through the introduction of a new method aimed at legitimizing this misappropriation and theft, with security committees announcing public auctions in all the areas of the suburbs of Hama governorate, and the southern and eastern suburbs of Idlib governorate, over which the Syrian regime and its allies regained control in 2019 and 2020.
 
The report relies on investigations and communication with a number of the owners of lands and crops seized by the Syrian regime through this auction process, providing extracts from five of the statements by these individuals in this report. The report reveals that some of the farmers told SNHR that their lands and crops had been seized without any compensation being provided, adding that this action had taken place prior to the announcement of the new initiative to seize land through sham public auctions whose real goal is further state theft of citizens’ property.
 
Fadel Abdul Ghany, the Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, says:
“The Syrian regime has recently focused on a new strategy of seizing lands in the suburbs of Hama and Idlib, but, based on our experience with the mentality and approach of the Syrian regime, we at the Syrian Network for Human Rights believe that this approach will be extended to include other areas in the Eastern Ghouta, Daraya and Southern Syria, similar to the way in which the Syrian regime gradually increased the intensity of its use of weapons for bombardment and killing, with its gradual introduction and implementation of legislative texts through which it seizes thousands of its opponents’ properties, blatantly aided by the total inability and unwillingness of the UN Security Council, the international community and the world’s democratic and civilized states, to help the Syrian people.”
 
As the report reveals, 22 auction announcements have been recorded, which extended to the farmlands around nearly 134 villages and towns in Hama governorate, and 88 villages and towns in Idlib governorate, with the total area of these lands being approximately 400,000 dunums, including various agricultural lands that produce wheat, barley, potatoes and olives, as well as uncultivated lands and fish farms.
 
The report stresses that the strategy of seizing the property of hundreds of thousands of opponents of the Syrian regime intensifies the process of eviction and forced displacement, which is part of the regime’s attempt to engineer the demographic and social structure of the Syrian state that automatically constitutes a major obstacle to the return of refugees and IDPs. The public auctions announced by the Syrian regime recently are just a new method which it adopted in the areas that broke free of its control to expand the seizure process to include land and agricultural crops, and to distribute these to its supporters.
 
The report notes that most of the residents of these villages and towns which witnessed the confiscation of agricultural lands are farmers, with their land being their only source of livelihood, and the Syrian regime’s arbitrary control over it carries a political retaliatory dimension intended to terrorize and inflict further suffering on Syrian society, as well as being part of a deliberate strategy of impoverishment and plunder of the money and property of the Syrian people for the benefit of the ruling class.
 
The report warns that the Syrian regime’s policy of announcing public auctions will be expanded to include the other areas whose residents have been displaced by the regime, such as the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus and areas in areas in the Western Ghouta and Homs suburbs, with the vast majority of those displaced unable to return, due to the intrinsic threat to them from the Syrian regime through arbitrary arrests and persecution that may end in enforced disappearance and death due to torture, as well as due to the regime’s forced conscription of young men among them to fight against those who may have been besieged or protesting alongside them.
 
The report affirms that the public auctions announced by the Syrian regime through its security committees constitute a flagrant violation of the property rights stipulated in the Syrian constitution itself, including Article 768 and Article 770 of Syrian Civil Law.
 
The report further notes that putting agricultural lands up for public auction in this manner constitutes a violation of Article 15 of the Syrian constitution. This, as the report states, proves once again that under a dictatorial regime operating via a security state, there is no meaning to any constitutional texts.
 
As the report also notes, customary international law prohibits pillage under Rule 52 and Rule 111, and international criminal law, and amounts to a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
 
The report stresses that after the UN Security Council’s complete failure to protect civilians and secure security and stability in Syria, this mission has clearly been transferred to those countries that care to prevent war crimes being committed in accordance with their obligations under the Geneva Conventions and in particular with the common Article 1 therein, according to which they must ensure that states respect the Geneva Conventions, with the Syrian regime considered to be one of the most egregious violators of the Geneva Conventions and international law in the modern age.
 
The report calls on the international community to expose the Syrian regime’s tactics which show its intention to seize as much of its political opponents’ property and land as possible in order to use this stolen property as a bargaining chip in the negotiation process, by returning part of it and releasing some of the detainees in exchange for re-legitimizing the regime and accepting the continuation of its rule.
 
The report also provides similar recommendations to both the Independent International Commission of Inquiry and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
 

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Press release:
 
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The Syrian Network for Human Rights reveals in a report released today that al Hawl Camp is more like a prison camp that continues to hold tens of thousands of IDPs in inhumane conditions, noting that the United Nations Independent International Commission on Inquiry, in Its latest report, holds the PYD-led Self-Management authority responsible for the unlawful detention of thousands of people there.
 
The 21-page report outlines the stages of the al Hawl Camp establishment and its structure, as well as the most notable waves of displacement that the camp has witnessed since it was reopened in April 2016 up to the current date. In 2016, the number of people living in al Hawl Camp reached nearly 12,000 IDPs and refugees, most of whom came from Deir Ez-Zour and Raqqa governorates, and from the State of Iraq, with their number reaching 18,000 in 2017, mostly from Iraq. As for 2018, although the camp subsequently witnessed a decline in the number of refugees coming from Iraq, the battles that took place between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and ISIS in the latter’s last enclave in Deir Ez-Zour governorate at the end of that year caused waves of displacement in Deir Ez-Zour governorate, with the number of residents in al Hawl Camp reaching 33,000 IDPs and refugee at the beginning of 2019. With the increase of waves of displacement in 2019, the number of camp residents had reached nearly 70,000 IDPs and refugees by the end of that year, most of whom came from the governorates of Deir Ez-Zour and Raqqa. The number of camp residents has now reached 65,000 people as of October 2020.
 
The report notes that the residents of al Hawl Camp have been exposed to a number of violations of basic human rights, such as the right to life, movement, health, education, and others. As the report reveals, at least 53 civilians, including 25 children and 11 women, have been killed in al Hawl Camp, since it was reopened in April 2016 up until October 28, 2020, of whom Syrian Democratic Forces killed 18, including 14 children, while 35 others, including 11 children and 11 women, were killed at the hands of parties that the report has been unable to identify.
 
The report provides more details on the inhuman conditions that the camp residents have been exposed to, noting that most of the tents are built using a poor, highly flammable type of plastic, which is also ineffective in protecting residents from the harsh climatic conditions that characterize the region. The resulting fires have resulted in the deaths of at least nine civilians, including four children and one woman, between April 2016 and October 28, 2020.
 
The report adds that the camp suffers from acute food shortages, inadequate provision of drinking water and sanitation facilities, and lack of medical care. The lack of medical care and food has resulted in the deaths of seven children in al Hawl Camp between April 2016 and October 28, 2020.
The report also notes that there are about twelve educational centers for children of different ages in al Hawl Camp, emphasizing that the number of these centers is very small compared to the amount of children in the camp whose number exceeds forty thousand children, with some being orphans who have lost their father, mother, or both parents.
 
The report stresses that the conditions in al Hawl Camp constitute a breeding ground for an outbreak of COVID-19, as precautionary measures such as wearing masks and social distancing are also very limited; the camp’s lack of water and sanitation infrastructure is the most dangerous factor contributing to the spread of the pandemic.
 
The report finds that the Russian veto opposing the renewal of Security Council Resolution No. 2165 has been a major reason for the lack of humanitarian and medical aid in the camp, and is contrary to human rights principles. The report adds that the veto used by Russia and its ally China caused the closure of al Ya’roubiya crossing, which affected the flow of UN aid to the region, with these shortages clearly reflected in the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, especially the food and medical conditions for the residents of al Hawl Camp. The report states that Russia and China bear moral responsibility and responsibility for violating fundamental human rights through this arbitrary veto.
 
Referring to the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry’s (COI) latest report, the SNHR report confirms that Syrian Democratic Forces prevent camp residents from leaving and returning, or from permanently leaving and returning to their villages and homes in areas where combat operations with ISIS ended many months ago, although combat operations in some of these areas ended nearly two years ago.
The report outlines three basic ways for camp residents to leave it. First, through tribal dignitaries’ mediation with Syrian Democratic Forces, which has contributed to the release of at least 3,000 detainees from al Hawl Camp, with those released coming from the governorates of Deir Ez-Zour, Raqqa and Aleppo; Second, through smuggling or escaping from the camp via smugglers who have relations with the Internal Security forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as the detainees’ families pay huge sums of money to both the smugglers and the internal Security forces in exchange for smuggling them using harsh methods, such as hiding detainees inside tanks.
The report adds that the third way for detainees to leave the camp is when some foreign countries request repatriation of their citizens, whose total number exceeds two thousand, mostly women and children.
 
The report further notes that the human rights and humanitarian reports issued by several United Nations bodies, in particular the recent report by the International Commission of Inquiry, as well as reports by international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and local human rights organizations, all helped in putting accumulated pressure on the Syrian Democratic Forces’ Self-Management authority, until it issued Decision No. 146 On October 10, which allows Syrians wishing to leave the camp to do so after completing the necessary procedures. However, the report notes that SNHR has seen no large-scale expulsions or release of thousands of detained Syrians, and has documented that the releases have remained limited to the cases arranged via tribal mediation.
 
The report finds that through these detentions, Syrian Democratic Forces have violated a large number of principles of international human rights law, including arbitrary deprivation of liberty, freedom of movement, the right to education, and the right to health care. Syrian Democratic Forces also failed to give these detainees any opportunity to defend themselves, to know the reasons for their detention, or to challenge them through the opportunity to obtain a fair trial.
The report states that Syrian Democratic Forces have treated entire sectors of the camp, which include hundreds of people allegedly associated with ISIS, worse than others, with this distinction being based entirely on allegations that have not been proven through independent investigations.
 
The report stresses that donor countries have not provided sufficient support allocated to the UN and international organizations working at the camp, exacerbating the already poor conditions there, emphasizing that the Self-Management authority is not solely responsible for the poor living and medical conditions inside the camp, despite its lack of financial transparency in how the proceeds of the region’s wealth, especially oil and gas, are spent.
 
The report’s recommendations include calling on the United Nations to increase the humanitarian aid provided to the camp until a solution is found to the detainees issue, and to put pressure on countries whose citizens are detained in the camp in order to expedite their repatriation and ensure that their children obtain their nationality, as stipulated in international law, in order to avoid creating hundreds of stateless persons.
 
The report recommends that the US-led coalition should put pressure on Syrian Democratic Forces to release thousands of detainees in al Hawl Camp, to release all those who have not been proven guilty of a criminal offense according to a fair trial by a court formed in an impartial and independent manner, and to request that the Self-Management authority prepares financial statements detailing the funds it obtains from the resources of the areas it controls and the mechanisms for their disbursement, and ensure that these statements are made freely available and disseminated for public scrutiny, especially by the residents of that region, and that sufficient funds are allocated to spend on improving living conditions in al Hawl Camp.
 
The report urges countries worldwide with citizens detained in al Hawl Camp not to repudiate their citizens and to work to repatriate and try them in accordance with the law, and to grant citizenship to children who were born to citizens outside their countries, as well as to increase humanitarian aid to al Hawl Camp, especially medical assistance in light of the second wave of COVID-19.
 
The report calls on Democratic Union Party-led Self-Management authority to release tens of thousands of detainees in the camp to ensure their return to the areas from which they were displaced, and to stop using discrimination against some sectors of the camp, as well as to prepare financial reports on the amount of money obtained from the wealth of the governorates of Deir Ez-Zour, Hasaka, and Raqqa and publish these for public scrutiny, in addition to allocating funds to improve the harsh conditions of al Hawl Camp.
 

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