SNHR has released its latest annual report documenting violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have persecuted journalists and citizen journalists to varying degrees, committing crimes which qualify as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime is the party responsible for perpetrating the vast majority of these crimes since March 2011, however, with regime forces bearing responsibility for at least 83 percent of the crimes documented in this category. The regime has the waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations to which it subjects the Syrian people and to hide the magnitude of its crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions of the armed opposition and Self-Management forces also resorted to suppression of dissenting views as policy in areas under their control, as seen by the widespread arrests they carried out.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to international humanitarian law regardless of his or her nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when media workers voluntarily approach action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions, in which case targeting them would be seen as inflicting collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist is any individual who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist takes up arms and is directly engaged in hostilities, he is no longer classified as a citizen journalist although if he renounces violence and retires completely from military action, it is possible that he would be again be reclassified as a citizen journalist.
 
This report draws, firstly, upon the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts of the SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains no accounts that were not collected through speaking directly with eyewitnesses, and none cited from any open sources. The report also involved analysis of a large number of videos and photos that were either posted online or submitted by local activists.
 
According to the report, December saw arrests of media worker by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, Syrian Regime forces and Kurdish self-Management forces, with most of these individuals subsequently released.
Meanwhile, the first third of 2018 witnessed an increase in the death toll among media workers, compared with the latter two-thirds of the year, following the military escalation by Syrian-Russian forces on the three de-escalation zones (certain areas of northern Homs governorate, parts of Daraa and Quneitra governorates, and the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus Suburbs governorate) until these forces seized control of these areas and forcibly displaced their residents. As the report states, the Syrian Regime forces were responsible for the majority of fatalities, killing 55 percent of the media workers documented as being killed during this period, with 39 percent of this total died as a result of torture in the regime’s detention centers.
The report further states that the second half of the year saw an unprecedented rise in the number of media workers arrested, mostly in the north of Syria, by both factions of the Armed Opposition and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, in a continuing effort to silence independent media workers, which has largely become standard policy.
Among parties to the conflict in terms of arrests of media workers, the factions of the Armed Opposition led the rest of the parties, being responsible for 21 percent of the total recorded, followed by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham with 19 percent.
 
The report states that 24 media workers were documented as being killed in 2018, including five who died due to torture at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while the Russian forces killed another two, and Extremist Islamist groups killed four. One media worker was killed at the hands of ISIS, and three others were killed at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham. According to the report, one media worker was killed at the hands of factions of the Armed Opposition and one at the hands of Self-Management forces, while three were killed by other parties.
 
The report indicates that 28 media workers were documented as injured in the past year, 12 of them at the hands of the Syrian Regime forces and eight at the hands of Russian forces, with one being injured at the hands of the Kurdish Self-Management forces, one at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and six more by other parties.
 
The report also documents three cases of media workers being arrested at the hands of Syrian Regime forces in 2018, one of whom was released, and one case of release and nine cases of arrest at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, five of whom were released. Meanwhile, the report records 10 cases of arrest of media workers, including one woman, by factions of the Armed Opposition, four of whom were released, as well as documenting four other cases of arrest, three of whom were released by the Kurdish Self-Management forces, and five kidnappings by other parties, of whom three were set free.
 
The report also documents the most notable violations against media workers in December, including two cases of arrest at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, one of whom was released. It also documents three cases of arrest at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, all of whom were released, and one case of arrest at the hands of the Kurdish Self-Management forces, who was released. Lastly, the report records one incident of an attack on a media office at the hands of Syrian Regime forces.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and to shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations into the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their vital integral role in recording incidents in Syria. The report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate in these efforts and to provide more evidence and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to combat the current policies of impunity by referring the crisis in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on Arab and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and commemorate their sacrifices, as well as contacting their families to offer condolences.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties must respect international humanitarian law in areas under their control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

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SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, on the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains —- accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
According to the report, November saw continued harassment and persecution in the north by the dominant parties for the fifth consecutive month, accompanied by assassinations, bombings and kidnappings that contributed to creating a climate of terror, and destabilizing the security situation which the community in these areas desperately needs to maintain in order to secure many of its basic needs. The report stated that media workers have been among the groups worst affected by this situation, with most of the violations documented as having been committed against them in November taking place in northern Syria.
 
The report records that 24 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018, including two media workers were killed in November by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham.
 
Also, the report documents that three media workers were injured in November, including one at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and two by other parties.
 
In addition, the report documents one case of arrest at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and two cases of arrest and release, one by factions from the armed opposition, and one by other parties.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist is anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains two accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
The report notes that numbers of civilian deaths have dropped, as the scope of military operations diminished throughout Syria in August compared to the months before. On the other hand, August was the third month in which new names of dead forcibly-disappeared came into light as family are still finding out that their relatives have been registered as dead by civil registration offices (al Nofous). Among those were one media worker. The report also documents the killing of a second media worker in a military operation.
 
The report records that 22 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018. Additionally, the report records that two media workers were killed in August – one who died due to torture at the hands of Syrian regime forces and the second was killed by forces believed to be Russian.
Also, the report documents that one media worker was injured by Syrian regime forces.
In addition, the report documents one case of arrest by Syrian regime forces, while the report documents that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham arrested and released one media worker.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with in relation to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist is anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains one account that was collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
According to the report, forcibly disappeared persons’ families are still finding out about their beloved ones’ death through civil registry offices who recorded them as dead. Media workers were no exception as the report records two incidents in July.
 
The report records that 20 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018 while three were killed in July – two by Syrian regime forces and one by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham.
In addition, the report notes that one media worker was injured at the hands of a party the report wasn’t able to identify while another media worker was arrested by factions from the armed opposition.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with in relation to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

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SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria, noting that 17 media workers were killed in the first half of 2018, including two who died in June.

The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist is anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains four accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
The report notes that June saw a drop in the rates of bombardments by Syrian-Russian alliance forces throughout Syria which had a notable impact on the numbers of media workers killed. On the other hand, the report records the death of two media workers due to torture at Syrian regime forces’ detention center, as their families were informed of their death when they went to the Syrian regime’s civil registration office.
Also, the report records that a number of media workers were abducted and arrested in light of the security unrest that is running rampant throughout north Syria.
 
The report records that 17 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018. Of those, the Syrian regime was responsible for 10 deaths, while the report that Russian forces, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition, and Kurdish Self-Management forces were responsible for one death each. Lastly, three media workers were killed at the hands of other parties.
 
The report adds that 21 media workers were injured in the first half of 2018, including nine by Syrian regime forces and eight by Russian forces, while one media worker was injured by Kurdish Self-Management forces and three by other parties.
 
In addition, the report documents 16 cases of arrest, abduction, and release in the first half of 2018. Two of those were by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, while factions from the armed opposition were responsible for seven, as two of the seven detainees were released. One media worker was arrested and released later by Kurdish Self-Management forces, while other parties abducted two media workers, where one of the two abductees was released later.
 
Further, the report records three other violations against media workers in the first half of 2018, including two by Syrian regime forces, while the third violation was by other parties.
 
The report records the killing of two media workers due to torture at the Syrian regime’s detention centers in June.
 
Also, the report records that Hay’at Tahrir al Sham arrested one media worker, in addition to four arrest cases by factions from the armed opposition, and one abduction case by other parties.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with in relation to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains two accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
The report notes that May saw a number of agreements that resulted in the Russia-backed Syrian regime forces completely taking over the south region of the capital Damascus, as well as areas in northern suburbs of Homs, as the residents of those areas were forcibly displaced to north Syria. In the wake of those agreements, the rate of bombardment by Syrian-Russian alliance forces on most of the areas have noticeably dropped, which reflected on the civilian death toll, including media workers.
On the other hand, there has been a notable rise in bombing incidents and killing by gunshots in most of the areas which are outside the control of Syrian regime forces.
 
The report records that 15 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018. Also, the report records that two media workers were killed in May by other parties.
 
Also, the report documents that one media worker was injured by other parties in the month of May.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains eight accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
According to the report, April saw a drop in the number of media workers killed, as well as the broader range violations against media workers. On the other hand, the report highlights a number of cases where the profession of journalism was abused in April, including when a pro-Syrian regime media worker named Hussein Murtada was taking picture of himself in front of Douma city as it was being bombed by Syrian regime forces and their allies, where he was gloating over the suffering of the residents, uttering sectarian slurs. Also, Russia, a permanent member state of the Security Council who should respect its stature and abstain from resorting to all this lies and deceits, abused this as the Ministry of Defense has released a video of medical personnel in Douma city, Eastern Ghouta, after it had taken over the area, to refute the allegations of the two chemical attack on the city on April 7, as one of the two attacks resulted in the killing of 41 civilians.
 
The report records that 13 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018. Also, the report records that three media workers were killed in April – one by Syrian regime forces, one by ISIS, and one by other parties.
 
Also, the report documents that three media workers were injured in April – two by Syrian regime forces and one by other parties.
 
In addition, the report document four cases of arrest, including three arrests by factions from armed opposition, where two of the three detained have been released so far. The report records also one arrest by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, on the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains eight accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
According to the report, media workers in Damascus suburbs’ Eastern Ghouta have suffered the most of the violations perpetrated by Syrian regime forces and their allies for the second month in a row, as Syrian regime forces and their allies topped all parties by killing 80% of all media workers killed in March. All of those were killed in Eastern Ghouta.
 
The report records that 10 media workers have been killed since the start of 2018, where March recorded the largest death toll so far, as five media workers were killed this month, divided into four killed by Syrian regime forces and one by armed opposition factions.
 
Also, the report documents that three media workers were injured in March at the hands of Syrian regime forces, Self-Management forces, and other parties.
 
In addition, the report document one arrest and release case at the hands of other parties, and one attack on a media office by Syrian regime warplanes.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

View full Report

SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, on the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains 10 accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
The report records that four media workers were killed in February, including two who were killed by the Syrian regime in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus suburbs, while Russian forces and Self-Management forces each killed one media worker.
 
Also, the report documents one case of arrest where the detained media worker was released later by Kuridsh Self-Management forces.
 
The report notes that five media workers were injured – three at the hands of Syrian regime forces and two by forces we believe were Russian.
 
The report also records two attacks. One by Syrian regime forces on a live-broadcast vehicle, while the other was by other parties who assaulted one media worker.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

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SNHR has released its report that documents violations against media workers by all parties to the conflict in Syria.
 
The report notes that all of the parties to the conflict have oppressed journalists and citizen journalists to varying extents, committing crimes qualifying as war crimes against them. The Syrian regime, however, is the party who has perpetrated most of these crimes since March 2011, where the Syrian regime has been responsible for up to 83% as it waged a systematic war on media work, committing hundreds of violations against journalists and citizen journalists, including killing, arrest, and torture in an attempt to conceal the human rights violations that the Syrian people are being subjected to and hide the crimes against Syrian citizens.
 
According to the report, ISIS, factions from the armed opposition and Self-Management forces resorted to suppressing views as a policy in their areas of control as seen by the wide arrests they made.
 
The report stresses that a journalist is a civilian individual according to the international humanitarian law regardless of their nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media worker gets close to action-heavy zones, they are responsible for their own actions where targeting them in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, they would lose the right to protection if they were involved in hostilities.
 
According to the report’s methodology, a citizen journalist as anyone who plays a significant role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in hostilities, he would be no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a citizen journalist again, provided he retires completely from military action.
 
This report draws upon, firstly, on the daily, ongoing documentation and monitoring efforts by SNHR team, and on accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, and local media workers. The report contains 10 accounts that were collected through speaking directly to eyewitnesses, and not cited from any open sources, in addition to analyzing a large number of the videos and pictures that were posted online or were sent by local activists.
 
The report records that one media worker was killed at the hands of Syrian regime forces in January 2018 who also injured three media workers, while six media workers were injured in attacks by Russian forces.
 
The report calls on the OHCHR to condemn the targeting of media workers in Syria and shed light on their sacrifice and suffering. In addition, the report calls on the COI and the IIIM to launch investigations on the targeting of media workers specifically, considering their integral role in recording incidents in Syria, as the report emphasizes that SNHR is willing to cooperate and provide more evidences and data.
 
Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to fight impunity policies by referring the case in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
 
Moreover, the report calls on the Arabic and international media institutions to support their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice. Also, they should contact their families to console them.
 
Finally, the report stresses that all parties have to respect the international humanitarian law in their areas of control with respect to the protection of civilians and especially media workers and their equipment.
 

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SNHR has published its monthly report documenting the violations by the parties to the conflict in Syria against media activists who play a prominent role in the civil movement and the armed conflict.
According to the report, media activism in Syria is continuously deteriorating as many international organizations are not paying enough attention to what is happening in Syria and the notable decline in media coverage over the last year compared with previous years.
 
The report notes that a journalist is a civilian according to the international humanitarian law regardless of his nationality. Any attack directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media activist gets close to military targets, he is responsible for his own actions where targeting him in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, he would lose the right to protection if he was involved in military operations. The report also notes that media activists must be respected whether they have identification papers as media workers or don’t considering the many difficulties they encounter to acquire these papers.
 
Fadel Abd Al Ghany, chairman of SNHR, adds:
“Media activism is especially important because it often sheds light on a string of various crimes that are taking place on a daily basis. Therefore, we record the violations perpetrated by conflicting parties in our monthly reports on violations against media activists.”
 
On December 30, 2016, a comprehensive ceasefire was announced from the Turkish capital Ankara under a Russian-Turkish sponsorship. The signing parties, the Syrian regime on one side and armed opposition factions on the other side, agreed to cease all armed attacks, including airstrikes, and stop raids and on-the-ground advancements. The military areas controlled by ISIS (self-proclaimed the Islamic State) were excluded from the agreement.
 
Ankara Ceasefire Agreement was followed by seven rounds of talks that were held in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, between Russian, Turkish, and Iranian representatives as the states who sponsored Ankara Ceasefire Agreement. These rounds -the most recent of which was on October 30-31, 2017- discussed mostly, in parallel with a number of local agreements, ways to further establish de-escalation zones in Idlib governorate and the surrounding areas (parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia governorates), northern Homs governorate, Eastern Ghouta, and parts of Daraa and Quneitra governorates in south Syria. Additionally, the talks addressed ways to deliver humanitarian aids and enable IDPs to return to those areas.
Since these agreements went into effect, the included areas saw a relatively good and noticeable drop in killing rates in relation to the past months since March 2011.
 
The report notes that breaches didn’t stop despite Ankara Ceasefire Agreement and the de-escalation agreements that followed – mainly by the Syrian regime, who is seemingly the party that would be most affected should the ceasefire go on, and in particular extrajudicial killing crimes and, more horrendously, deaths due to torture. This strongly asserts that there is a ceasefire of some sort on the table, but the crimes that the international community -especially the guarantors- won’t see are still going on as nothing had changed. Accordingly, the report calls on the Russian guarantor to respect the agreements they struck and apply serious pressure on their Syrian and Iranian allies in order to cease all forms of killing, shelling, and torture-to-death inside detention centers, and start releasing detainees.
 
According to SNHR’s methodology, a citizen journalist is anyone who plays a notable role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a citizen journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in offensive military operations, he is no longer deemed a citizen journalist as long as he is engaged in military activities.
The report includes two accounts, and implements a high-level documentation methodology adopted by SNHR based on direct accounts from survivors, victims’ families, and local media activists. Additionally, SNHR team has analyzed and verified the pictures and videos and some of the medical records SNHR received. The report notes that SNHR has copies of all the pictures and videos this report contains in a secret online database, as well as backup copies on hard drives. Nonetheless, the report stresses that SNHR team encounters serious and exceptional security and logistic challenges in light of the pursuit and ban by Syrian regime forces and some of the other armed groups, so it is always important to note that all of these figures and incidents only represent the bare minimum of the severity and magnitude of the violations that occurred.
 
The report outlines the most notable violations against media activists in 2017 as the report documents the killing of 42 media activists at the hands of the parties the conflict. Syrian regime forces killed the most media activists with 17 media activists, followed by ISIS with 10 while Russian forces killed four.
 
47 media activists, according to the report, were injured in 2017 including 29 who were injured by Syrian regime forces.
 
In addition, the report documents 93 cases of arrest, abduction, and release that involved media activists. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham was responsible for most of these cases with 19 cases of arrest where 18 of the 19 arrested media activists were released, followed by Self-Management forces who released 10 media activists out of 11 arrest cases they were responsible for. Armed opposition factions were responsible for 10 cases of arrest including nine that were released.
 
Also, the report records that Syrian regime arrested six media activists in 2017, including two women.
 
According to the report, 2017 saw three attacks on media offices by Syrian regime forces.
 
The report also outlines the most notable violations against media activists in December 2017 as the report records that two media activists were killed – one by ISIS while the other media activist was killed by parties that the report wasn’t able to identify.
 
Additionally, the report documents one case of arrest by Syrian regime forces, two cases of arrest by armed opposition factions where the arrested media activists were released later, and one case of arrest by Kurdish Self-Management forces where the arrested media activist was released later.
 
The report emphasizes that serious and quick steps must be taken to save media activism in Syria and renews its condemnation of all violations against the freedom of media activism regardless of the perpetrators. The freedom of media must be respected and the workers in the media field must be protected and particularly considered.
 
The report calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to conduct investigations that focuses on the targeting of media activists given their vital role in recording incidents in Syria.
 
Also, the report calls on international and Arabic media institution to advocate their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice.
 
Finally, the report calls on the Russian guarantor to stop the Syrian regime from dooming all de-escalation agreements, and start making progress in the detainees issue by revealing the fates of 76,000 forcibly-disappeared persons.
 

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SNHR has published its monthly report documenting the violations by the parties to the conflict in Syria against media activists who play a prominent role in the civil movement and the armed conflict.
According to the report, media activism in Syria is continuously deteriorating as many international organizations are not paying enough attention to what is happening in Syria and the notable decline in media coverage over the last year compared with previous years.
 
The report notes that a journalist is a civilian according to the international humanitarian law regardless of his nationality. Any attack directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media activist gets close to military targets, he is responsible for his own actions where targeting him in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, he would lose the right to protection if he was involved in military operations. The report also notes that media activists must be respected whether they have identification papers as media workers or don’t considering the many difficulties they encounter to acquire these papers.
 
Fadel Abd Al Ghany, chairman of SNHR, adds:
“Media activism is especially important because it often sheds light on a string of various crimes that are taking place on a daily basis. Therefore, we record the violations perpetrated by conflicting parties in our monthly reports on violations against media activists.”
 
On December 30, 2016, a comprehensive ceasefire was announced from the Turkish capital Ankara under a Russian-Turkish sponsorship. The signing parties, the Syrian regime on one side and armed opposition factions on the other side, agreed to cease all armed attacks, including airstrikes, and stop raids and on-the-ground advancements. The military areas controlled by ISIS (self-proclaimed the Islamic State) were excluded from the agreement.
 
Ankara Ceasefire Agreement was followed by seven rounds of talks that were held in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, between Russian, Turkish, and Iranian representatives as the states who sponsored Ankara Ceasefire Agreement. These rounds -the most recent of which was on October 30-31, 2017- discussed mostly, in parallel with a number of local agreements, ways to further establish de-escalation zones in Idlib governorate and the surrounding areas (parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia governorates), northern Homs governorate, Eastern Ghouta, and parts of Daraa and Quneitra governorates in south Syria. Additionally, the talks addressed ways to deliver humanitarian aids and enable IDPs to return to those areas.
Since these agreements went into effect, the included areas saw a relatively good and noticeable drop in killing rates in relation to the past months since March 2011.
 
The report notes that breaches didn’t stop despite Ankara Ceasefire Agreement and the de-escalation agreements that followed – mainly by the Syrian regime, who is seemingly the party that would be most affected should the ceasefire go on, and in particular extrajudicial killing crimes and, more horrendously, deaths due to torture. This strongly asserts that there is a ceasefire of some sort on the table, but the crimes that the international community -especially the guarantors- won’t see are still going on as nothing had changed. Accordingly, the report calls on the Russian guarantor should respect the agreements they struck and apply serious pressure on their Syrian and Iranian allies in order to cease all forms of killing, shelling, and torture-to-death inside detention centers, and start releasing detainees.
 
The report notes that November recorded an unprecedented drop in the overall toll of violations against media activists since last June. November saw one incident of killing at the hands of Syrian regime forces.
 
According to SNHR’s methodology, a civilian journalist is anyone who plays a notable role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a civilian journalist bore arms and was directly engaged in offensive military operations, he is no longer deemed a citizen journalist as long as he is engaged in military activities.
The report includes nine accounts, and implements a high-level documentation methodology adopted by SNHR based on direct accounts from survivors, victims’ families, and local media activists. Additionally, SNHR team has analyzed and verified the pictures and videos and some of the medical records SNHR received. The report notes that SNHR has copies of all the pictures and videos this report contains in a secret online database, as well as backup copies on hard drives. Nonetheless, the report stresses that SNHR team encounters serious and exceptional security and logistic challenges in light of the pursuit and ban by Syrian regime forces and some of the other armed groups, so it is always important to note that all of these figures and incidents only represent the bare minimum of the severity and magnitude of the violations that occurred.
 
The report records that 40 media activists were killed at the hands of the parties to the conflict in Syria between the start of 2017 and December of the same year. The report also outlines the most notable violations against media activists in November 2017, as the report records that one media activists was killed by Syrian regime forces.
Additionally, the report documents one case of arrest by armed opposition factions, where the arrested media activist was released later, while the report records two releases and one case of arrest by Kurdish Self-Management forces, where the arrested media activist was released later.
 
The report notes that seven media activists were injured, including six by Syrian regime forces, while the Russian bombardment injured one media activist.
 
The report emphasizes that serious and quick steps must be taken to save media activism in Syria and renews its condemnation of all violations against the freedom of media activism regardless of the perpetrators. The freedom of media must be respected and the workers in the media field must be protected and particularly considered.
 
The report calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to conduct investigations that focuses on the targeting of media activists given their vital role in recording incidents in Syria.
 
Also, the report calls on international and Arabic media institution to advocate their colleagues in the field of media by publishing periodic reports that shed light on their daily suffering and memorialize their sacrifice.
 
Finally, the report calls on the Russian guarantor to stop the Syrian regime from dooming all de-escalation agreements, and start making progress in the detainees issue by revealing the fates of 76,000 forcibly-disappeared persons.
 

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