The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

Building on the continued collaborative relationship between the world-renowned KidsRight Foundation and the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), SNHR has nominated two siblings, brother and sister Ahmed and Sena Zeer for the 2024 International Children’s Peace Prize in appreciation of their extraordinary efforts in supporting their fellow children and highlighting their suffering in the midst of and despite ongoing violations and armed conflict in Syria. We are delighted and honored to reveal that our nomination has been accepted, meaning that Ahmed and Sena are among the 118 boys and girls from across the world to be nominated for this great honor. Ahmed and Sena are the only Syrian children to be nominated this year, and the only Arab children apart from a girl from Lebanon. We hope that Ahmed’s and Sena’s outstanding efforts will help shed more light on the human crisis faced by Syria’s children.

In previous years, SNHR nominated Sirin Mathloum Na’san (girl) for the 2022 prize, Muhammad Nour al-Asmar (boy) for the 2021 prize, and Enar al-Hamrawi (girl), for the 2020 prize. SNHR did not submit any nominations in 2023 due to the devastation resulting from the February 6, 2023, Earthquakes that hit Türkiye and northern Syria.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

On Thursday, October 10, 2024, the Member States of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted on Draft Resolution A/HRC/57/L.11 which condemned the Syrian regime’s continuing perpetration of gross violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in a systematic and widespread manner. The draft resolution was adopted with a majority of 26 states voting in favor, while four voted against (China, Cuba, Eritrea, Brunei), and 17 abstained from voting.

Oppressive authoritarian states that oppose human rights continue to vote in favor of the Syrian regime. Indeed, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) showed in a previous report how other totalitarian states and dictatorships, most prominently Russia and China, consistently vote in support of the Syrian regime’s crimes at the UNHRC.

Vote outcome on Draft Resolution A/HRC/57/L.11 regarding the human rights situation in Syria. The draft was voted on during the UNHRC’s 57^th session.

#HRC57 | Draft resolution A/HRC/57/L.11 on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic was ADOPTED. pic.twitter.com/PSe3XPsfjO

— United Nations Human Rights Council | #HRC57 (@UN_HRC) October 10, 2024

The latest resolution condemns what it describes as the “grave” human rights situation across Syria, making reference to the most recent report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) which documents “continued violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including attacks against civilians and civilian objects arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and deaths in detention due to ill-treatment or lack of access to medical care and arbitrary arrests on return to the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The resolution further condemns the violations committed by the Syrian regime, noting that over 5,000 children are currently detained or forcibly disappeared at the hands of the parties to the conflict. SNHR’s data aligns with these figures, as the group has documented that at least 5,263 children of those arrested by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria between March 2011 and June 2024 are still under arrest/detention and/or forcibly disappeared. Of these, 3,698 children were arrested by regime forces, while 319 were arrested by ISIS, 57 by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, 834 by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and 365 by all armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA).

The resolution also reiterates the findings of the COI, which were further corroborated by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), namely that “the Syrian Arab Republic does not yet offer a safe and stable environment for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees or for those displaced inside the country.”

SNHR welcomes the UNHRC resolution and the most recent COI report, which stressed that “Syria remains mired in a complex humanitarian crisis in which civilians continue to be killed and injured during hostilities, State and non-State actors exercise power arbitrarily and commit violations with impunity… Concurrently, the economic and humanitarian situation has continued to degenerate, amid corruption, organized crime,”

It should be noted that SNHR has been working in collaboration with many UN bodies for the past 13 years, including the OHCHR, the COI, the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), UNICEF, and several Special Rapporteurs.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

On the evening of Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at around 20:15 local time, fixed-wing warplanes, suspected to be Israeli, fired multiple missiles, believed to number three, at al-Sheikh Saed area in al-Mazza neighborhood in Damascus city. The attack targeted a residential building in an area known locally as the ‘14 Buildings’, killing at least eight civilians, including four children (three girls and one boy) and three women, including a doctor, and inflicting injuries of varying severity on 11 others. The attack also heavily damaged the buildings and nearby civilian properties.

The area was under the control of Syrian regime forces at the time of the incident. According to intelligence obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), in addition to the photos and video we received and information from open sources, the area is a civilian one. We have yet to confirm that there were any Iranian fighters, commanders, or other military personnel associated with Iran, or any military equipment in the area at the time of the attack.

New York – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) hosted an event on the sidelines of the 79^th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The event, entitled ‘Syria’s Dark Reality: Examining Systemic Torture and Exploring Justice and Accountability’, which was sponsored by the United States, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, the United Kingdom, and Canada, featured: Dr. Dafna H. Rand, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL); Beth Van Schaack, the US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice; Natasha Franceschi, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs; Isabelle Rome, France’s Ambassador at Large for Human Rights; Guusje Korthals Altes, the Netherlands’ Director for North Africa and the Middle East; Luise Amtsberg, Germany’s Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance; Faisal bin Abdullah Al Hanzab, Special Envoy of Qatar Minister of Foreign Affairs; Stephen Hickey, the UK Director of Middle East and North Africa; Dr. Martin Larose, Director General of the Middle East Bureau at Global Affairs Canada; Theo Boutruche, Head of the Rule of Law and Transitional Justice Unit for the Syria Office at the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR); Mariam Kamalmaz, Daughter of Forcibly Disappeared and Killed US Citizen Majd Kamalmaz; Dr. Mahmoud Aswad, Executive Manager of Lawyers and Doctors for Human Rights (LDHR); and Fadel Abdulghany, SNHR’s Executive Director, with Emma Beals, a Syria expert and independent consultant on peace and foreign policy, serving as a moderator. The event was streamed live on Zoom and SNHR’s social media channels in Arabic and English.

During the event, the participants discussed the systemic use of torture in Syria, while exploring how the international community can continue to advance justice and accountability efforts for perpetrators. The speakers also discussed the avenues through which progress can be made on the issue of forcibly disappeared persons in light of the establishment of the UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), as well as questions related to the impact of the use of torture on returning refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) both inside and outside regime-held areas, and the tools available to hold the Syrian regime accountable for torture and other abuses. Questions about the future prospects of justice and accountability efforts were also discussed, considering recent, increased diplomatic engagement with the regime.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) participated in a seminar entitled, ‘Double Burden: Exploring the Correlation Between Displacement and Healthcare Crises in Syria’, which was organized by the Global Alliance on War, Conflict & Health (GAWCH) in partnership with SNHR.

The webinar focused on analyzing the impact of the systematic attacks targeting medical facilities in Syria, specifically regarding the availability and quality of healthcare provided to internally displaced persons (IDPs) since 2011, with particular emphasis on the healthcare challenges faced by IDP children as a result of these attacks. The speakers also discussed what can be done to improve the process of collecting, verifying, and publishing data on attacks targeting medical facilities in order to make better decisions on policies and assistance. Questions about action the international community can take to respond more efficiently and prevent attacks on healthcare infrastructure in conflict zones were also discussed, as well as the nature of the long-term ramifications on public health resulting from the continued attacks against healthcare systems designated for IDPs in Syria, and how to alleviate these effects.

The seminar featured Dr. Annie Sparrow, a Fellow at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), and Fadel Abdulghany, SNHR Executive Director.

Mr. Abdulghany spoke about the relationship between healthcare crises and internal displacement, focusing particularly on the state of the targeted medical facilities in Syria. He stressed that the systematic targeting of medical facilities during the Syrian conflict had greatly exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by contributing to mass internal displacement, severe deficiencies in healthcare, and the deterioration of the overall health of the country’s peoples, all of which are factors which emphasize the urgent need to improve international legal frameworks to protect healthcare in conflict zones.

Mr. Abdulghany also emphasized that the magnitude and systematical nature of attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria are unprecedented, and that in this they constitute deliberate and calculated war crimes. These attacks have destroyed the healthcare infrastructure, creating waves of mass displacement, as civilians have been forced to flee repeatedly in search of basic medical services and security. The erosion of access to healthcare, he added, has created dangerous gaps in basic services, increased rates of diseases and deaths, and led to the resurgence of preventable diseases. He also stressed that the international community’s response, while vital, has been insufficient to prevent attacks and ensure accountability, which also underlines the need for far stronger legal and diplomatic measures.

SNHR has documented at least 897 attacks on medical facilities by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria since March 2011 up until August 2024. In addition, at least 879 medical personnel have been killed, while at least 3,428 healthcare workers, including 286 women, are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared. There are currently about 6.8 million IDPs in Syria, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

In concluding his speech, Mr. Abdulghany stressed that measures must be taken to improve monitoring and reporting of attacks on healthcare, as well as to employ targeted sanctions and other measures to pressure the Syrian regime and other parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations.

He added that emphasis should be placed on the implementation and enforcement of existing international humanitarian law and human rights law provisions related to the protection of healthcare in conflict. This includes encouraging states to globally ratify and locally implement relevant treaties, such as the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It also involves engaging with armed groups to enhance their understanding and respect for the rules governing the protection of healthcare in conflict, and ensuring their commitment to refraining from attacking healthcare facilities and personnel.

Additionally, he noted, efforts should focus on strengthening legal protection through domestic implementation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. While most countries have ratified the Geneva Conventions and other relevant treaties, many have not fully integrated these obligations into their domestic legal frameworks. There also exists a need address the root causes of attacks on healthcare in conflict zones, including the politicization and militarization of healthcare. Furthermore, greater political will and resources to protect healthcare in the context of armed conflict in Syria must be mobilized. This includes advocating for prioritizing this issue on the international agenda, including through the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council (HRC), and other relevant platforms.

Mr. Abdulghany also emphasized that enhancing legal protection for healthcare workers and facilities is essential, as along with the implementation of mechanisms for investigating and prosecuting violations, in order to ensure the safety and security of healthcare workers in conflict-affected environments and hold those responsible for attacks on healthcare accountable, thereby deterring such attacks in the future. Without effective legal protection and accountability measures, he stressed, attacks on healthcare will continue to undermine the provision of essential medical services, exacerbate the suffering of civilian populations, generate further displacement, and perpetuate cycles of violence and instability.

To watch the event in full, please visit the link here.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On Friday, September 13, 2024, the National News Agency, Lebanon’s official news agency, which is affiliated with the country’s Ministry of Media, reported a statement attributed to Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which the news agency said had been made during a meeting between Abdullah Bou Habib, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in Lebanon’s caretaker government, and a Menikdiwela-headed UNHCR delegation, held to discuss the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. In the statement, Menikdiwela claimed that the UNHCR has seen a positive shift in the Syrian regime government’s handling of the issue of displaced people, adding that there is a momentum that can be utilized with respect to the issue of the Syria’s early recovery, which would pave the way for the return of refugees. Menikdiwela also revealed that the UNHCR is working to secure the ‘voluntary’ return of 30,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria in the near future.

The claims made in the UN official’s statement are wholly inconsistent with the violations still being perpetrated by the Syrian regime, including gross violations, such as torture and enforced disappearance, with the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) still regularly documenting such violations and reporting on them in our daily news articles and monthly reports. Such claims also contradict the reports issued by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, including its most recent report on September 9, and the reports issued by the UN Human rights Office (OHCHR), including a report issued on February 13, 2024, which confirmed that many Syrians who had fled the war face serious human rights violations and abuses upon returning to Syria, as well as reports by international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International. It seems that Menikdiwela has failed to look at the overwhelming majority of these human rights reports which directly contradict her claims on this issue; had she done so, she would surely not have made such a suspicious statement.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On August 14, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arrest of Dr. Zuhair Ibrahim Khair Beik by the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia governorate. Dr. Zuhair, an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) born in 1955, was arrested along with his cousin Eyad Suhail Khair Beik, an auto parts dealer, as they were traveling from Latakia city to Kasab town in rural Latakia governorate. Following their arrest, the two, who both are Alawites, were taken to the Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia city. 

In a related incident, we also documented that 80-year-old Dr. Ahmad Mether al-Sufi, a pediatrician and cosmetic surgeon, and the owner of al-Sufi Hospital in Latakia city, was arrested almost a month later, on September 9, by personnel from the same branch. As with all other arrests carried by the Syrian regime, the three arrests were carried out without any judicial warrants being presented, further demonstrating the regime’s continuing and perpetual marginalization of the judiciary. Since their arrest, the three detainees have also been denied any opportunity to contact their families or a lawyer, or even to learn the charges against them, which is another common detention practice for the regime. 

According to intelligence received by SNHR from sources close to the victims, regime forces have imposed a complete news blackout on any reporting of the three detainees’ situation, with the regime strictly prohibiting any form of communication with the men or their families, including by lawyers or human rights activists. Regime forces have also blocked all the attempts made both by the families and others close to the detainees to find out the cause of their arrests or glean any other information about their health or legal status.

Dr. Zuhair and Dr. Ahmad are both prominent figures in Latakia city, who are known for their consistent criticism of the regime’s security and economic policies. Dr. Zuhair, who previously served as the head of the doctors’ union in Latakia governorate, had earlier faced judicial pressure to cede ownership of his factory, a facility for packaging citrus fruits and vegetables, to a relative of Bashar Assad.

Despite numerous meditation attempts by prominent dignitaries in the city to persuade the regime to release the three detainees or at the very least to clarify the charges against them, the regime has flatly rejected all such appeals. In light of this continued news blackout, there are increasing concerns that they could potentially have been transferred to one of the regime’s main security branches in the capital Damascus, where detainees are held in extremely harsh conditions, and often go on to be categorized as forcibly disappeared persons.

These arrests form part of the regime’s continuing policy of silencing any critical or dissenting voices in areas under its control, regardless of the individuals’ sectarian or ethnic affiliations. We have serious concerns that these three detainees will go on to become forcibly disappeared persons, a sadly common fate for detainees in regime detention centers, where people are held for long periods of time without trial and even without any clear charges being presented against them, and where they are often subjected to systematic torture to extract confessions, or simply to punish them for their views or activism.

SNHR must stress that, by arbitrarily detaining healthcare workers and prominent figures known for publicly voicing their critical views, the Syrian regime has again violated international human rights law, and the order issued by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on November 16, 2023, on the request to impose provisional measures against the regime in the case brought to the court by Canada and the Netherlands against the Syrian regime on the application of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This constitutes an overt challenge and violation of the Syrian regime’s international obligations, particularly in regard to protecting human rights and abstaining from torture and arbitrary detention.

SNHR condemns all detention practices by regime forces, and particularly this incident. We call for the immediate release of the three detainees, and insist that they should be compensated, materially and morally, for the harm they suffered. We also condemn all violations against medical personnel, and call on the regime to end its arbitrary detention/arrest and torture practices that only aim to spread fear and panic among Syrians regardless of their sect. Finally, we call for investigations to be launched into these incidents, and for those responsible for violations to be held to account.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On August 26, the Violet Organization[1] opened a Paralympic Games event,[2] with the participation of 333 athletes with disabilities at Idlib city’s municipal stadium. The event was supposed to be held in tandem with the Paris Paralympic Games, which began the same day and is set to conclude on September 12. Plans for the event’s three-stage program had already been completed and approved, with contracts signed between the Violet Organization and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) Salvation Government in Idlib city. As such, preparations for the event had been underway for the past few months, with the games intended to give a prominent platform and far greater attention to members of one of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized group, namely people with special needs and disabilities, which are especially essential with many in Syria having suffered injuries leading to various disabilities as a result of aerial bombardment in recent years, primarily by the Syrian regime and its allies, while others sustained life-changing injuries that left them physically disabled in the earthquakes of February 6, 2023.

The first ceremony of the games was held on August 26, with the lighting of the Olympic Torch, again based on previously agreed arrangements with the Salvation Government, with the route for the torch’s passage to the Municipal Stadium having been explained and approved, along with filming locations, participating figures, and other relevant details, including the opening ceremony, the torch’s entrance to the stadium, and the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron in the stadium. At one point in the opening ceremony, the torch-bearer bowed down to the audience to greet them, with the cauldron behind him, with this gesture in particular causing uproar the next day, mainly from pro-HTS Islamic scholars, as well as other figures who denounced the opening ceremony as supposedly contravening Islamic Sharia and of being an imitation of the West and infidels, especially condemning the torch-lighting ceremony, which, they claimed, symbolizes “pagan beliefs”. Some went as far as calling for the reintroduction of HTS’ restrictive al-Hesba Apparatus in Idlib. (It should be noted that other Islamic scholars have deemed the Paralympics and the associated ceremonies to be a wholly acceptable event and customs that do not conflict in any way with Islamic Sharia).

On August 28, 2024, the Salvation Government’s Bureau for Coordinating Humanitarian Work summoned the Violet Organization’s public relations officer to demand that the humanitarian group issue a statement apologizing for the torch-bearer’s gesture of greeting to the crowd at the opening ceremony. The group rejected this, pointing out that all the Games’ ceremonies and events took place in accordance with the agreement signed between it and the Salvation Government. The Violet Organization was shocked at the subsequent statement issued by the Salvation Government cancelling the Games, and proclaiming that the event would be prevented from proceeding since it goes against local culture, norms, and traditions. Tareq al-Ali, the Public Relations Head at the Salvation Government’s Ministry of Development and Humanitarian Affairs, said in the statement that the Violet Organization had submitted a proposal for an event featuring sporting activities for the disabled, which was granted approval on the basis that it was solely a sporting event. However, he added, when the event got underway the organization held a ceremonial festival that falls outside the confines of its competence and requires special procedures, and a referral to the competent parties in the Directorate of Political Affairs, which he said was the cause of the ‘violations’ in the aforementioned ceremony, which “goes against our culture, customs, and traditions.”

[1] Violet Organization is a humanitarian and development civil society organization that operates in northwestern Syria.

[2] Paralympic Games, or simply the Paralympics, is a series of sporting competitions with a system similar to the Olympics that features competitors with various and different disabilities.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

Bakr Qasim, from Ma’ar Shoreen in eastern rural Idlib governorate, is a media worker who‘s worked with both Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency and Agence France-Presse (AFP). On August 26, 2024, Bakr, who was born in 1995, was arrested/detained along with this wife, who’s also a media worker, by the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) Military Police, who intercepted the couple at the Douar Halab ‘Aleppo Roundabout’ area in western al-Bab city in eastern rural Aleppo governorate, as they were returning home from providing media coverage of the al-Bab Trade Exhibition in al-Bab city.

Bakr Qasim and his wife were detained without any judicial warrant being presented, and taken to an SNA detention center in al-Bab city. Bakr’s wife was released about an hour later, as we recorded at the time.

According to intelligence obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from local activists in al-Bab city, Bakr Qasim was taken from the Military Police’s headquarters in the city to a detention center in the Houar Kellis subdistrict of rural Aleppo governorate. The detention center in question is affiliated with the Turkish intelligence service and Turkish forces who operate in the area. SNHR has also learned that Bakr was taken there after being escorted back to his home, which was inspected, while Bakr’s media equipment had been seized.

The SNA follows a similar approach to that of the Syrian regime in its detention operations, with no arrest warrants being presented to those being detained. Rather, arrests are carried out by abducting the individuals in question in the street, in markets, and public places, or in raids on media offices and civilian events, again without any judicial warrants being presented. Bakr Qasim has also been denied any opportunity to contact his family or hire a lawyer. We fear he may be tortured and go on to become another enforced disappearance case with 85 percent of all detainees falling into this category.

SNHR condemns the detention of Bakr Qasim, and calls for his immediate release, and for the provision of moral and material compensation for the trauma and harm he has suffered. We also reiterate our condemnation of all violations against media workers, and call for ensuring their protection as required under international humanitarian law, more especially given the vital nature of their work in uncovering truths and facts wherever they work, and in shedding light on violations against civilians. The failure of the armed opposition/SNA to establish a safe environment for independent media work in areas under their control is demonstrated by the numerous attacks on media workers that have not been followed by any serious investigations, nor have the findings of any investigations into these attacks been made available to the public.

Languages

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

Abdul Akram al-Saqqa, a revivalist Islamic thinker born in 1944, who founded the ‘Charity Association’ and the ‘Sharia High School’ in Darayya city in western Rural Damascus governorate, was arrested on July 14, 2011, by Syrian regime forces who raided his school in the city. He has been classified as forcibly disappeared ever since with the Syrian regime denying having him or allowing anyone to visit him, even a lawyer.

Abdul Akram al-Saqqa was known for his reformist work in his local community, where he was the imam and khatib (deliverer of the Friday sermon) at the Anas bin Malik Mosque. In 1988, he founded ‘al-Assad Institute for the Memorization of the Holy Quran’, serving as its director until the end of 2000. He also founded ‘al-Saqqa House’ for printing, publishing and distribution, through which he published several scholarly, cultural, social, and intellectual books. With the advent of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in 2011, he participated in the peaceful anti-regime demonstrations in Darayya city. Given his status as a well-known and widely respected dignitary in the area, he and other popular figures were strategic targets for the Syrian regime who spared no efforts or resources in arresting, prosecuting, imprisoning and forcibly disappearing such individuals, without any legal cause.

On August 20, 2024, Abdul Akram al-Saqqa’s family obtained a death certificate from the civil registry office in Darayya city indicating that he had died on November 3, 2014, with no other details, such as cause of death, provided. This suggests that Abdul Akram died about three-and-a-half years after his arrest. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that he suffered from several conditions prior to his arrest that required medical care and various types of medication, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence. SNHR can also confirm that Syrian regime forces failed to announce Abdul Akram’s death when it happened, as well as failing to return his body to his family.

This failure to return Abdul Akram’s body to his family is the norm rather than the exception, with the regime routinely failing to return its victims’ bodies to their families to enable them to properly lay their loved ones to rest. Without returning the body, the documents from the registry office confirming the victims’ deaths in custody do not constitute a full revelation of the truth about their demise. Like many tens of thousands of Syrian families, Abdul Akram’s family has no possible recourse to legal action to determine the true cause of his death, or even to obtain his body since, as stated earlier, the Syrian regime absolutely refuses to return the bodies of any of its forcibly disappeared victims. SNHR is gravely concerned at the mechanisms and methods used by the regime to conceal and dispose of the bodies of its victims who died due to torture.

Since the start of 2018, SNHR has been documenting a practice adopted by the Syrian regime, whereby forcibly disappeared individuals are registered as dead in the civil registry’s records without any notification being issued to their families; we have detailed this phenomenon in previous reports. To this day, the families of persons forcibly disappeared continue to learn about the deaths of their loved ones through civil registry records. In total, we have documented 1,634 cases of this kind as of this writing, with the victims including 24 children, 21 women (adult female), and 16 medical personnel. In all these 1,634 cases, the cause of death was not revealed, and the regime failed to return the victims’ bodies to their families or even to notify the families of their loved ones’ burial places.

SNHR must reiterate that the Syrian regime bears a serious and binding responsibility to reveal the fate of forcibly disappeared persons and to launch independent investigations under the supervision of the UN to reveal the truth about the violations that occurred, to hold those responsible accountable, and to return the victims’ bodies to their families so they can be laid to rest with a proper funeral and burial. This practice by the Syrian regime of registering deaths in the civil registry records falls far short of conclusively and properly clarifying the fate of forcibly disappeared persons. Rather, it constitutes another damning indictment of the Syrian regime which, having arrested and forcibly disappeared these individuals, and denied any involvement or responsibility for their disappearance, then registers their deaths in its civil registry records without providing any details on how they died or returning their bodies to their grieving families. As such, we at SNHR reiterate that these victims are still included among the ranks of the forcibly disappeared, with the internationally outlawed crime of enforced disappearance still continuing to take place in Syria up to the present day, with the primary culprit behind these crimes being the Syrian regime.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest atrocity, which again demonstrates the level of sheer barbarism that is the norm for this regime. We also must underline the need to support the Syrian people’s just demands for deposing and replacing the current monstrous and despotic ruling regime in Syria with a democratic system of elected government that respects human rights and defends the Syrian people.

SNHR stands in complete solidarity with Abdul Akram’s family and the families of all victims who have fallen victims to the heinous machine of torture in Syria. We wish to also express our most heartfelt empathy and condolences to all families who have suffered such terrible losses.

The Hague – Syrian Network for Human Rights:

August 21, 2024, marks 11 years since the Syrian regime carried out its most notorious and unconscionable chemical weapons attack against civilians, in the Eastern and Western Ghoutas in Rural Damascus on August 21, 2013. A profound and pervasive sense of grief and mourning overcomes the Syrian people at this time every year, as we are reminded by the terrible memories and images of the victims and their suffering, and the unimaginable panic and terror these barbaric attacks created. The ghastly scent of death remains horribly fresh in our memories to this day. Even though more than a decade has passed since that terrible day, time has not eased the horrific memories of that monstrous and barbaric attack. Many of the survivors, especially those who were children at the time, continue to suffer the agonizing consequences in pain and trauma, all of which are made even more horrendous and heartbreaking by the fact that, despite the passage of so many years, the Syrian regime’s leadership and others involved have still not been held accountable in any way for perpetrating such unimaginable evil.

What happened on August 21, 2013?

On the night of Wednesday, August 21, 2013, the Syrian regime carried out roughly four separate attacks using chemical weapons against densely populated areas in the Eastern Ghouta and Western Ghouta (including Mu’adamiyet Al Sham town) of Rural Damascus. In these coordinated attacks, the regime used 10 rockets loaded with lethal poison gases; with each rocket having an estimated capacity of 20 liters, this means the 10 rockets carried a total deadly payload of 200 liters. The rockets, all loaded with large quantities of internationally outlawed Sarin gas, were fired using a rocket launcher after midnight as the civilians targeted were sleeping. Both factors signal that the Syrian regime had a premeditated and deliberate objective of killing as many residents as possible, with the calculated aim of silently, fatally gassing them in their sleep, thereby minimizing any chance of survival. Additionally, the weather in the region had been forecast to be relatively cool and calm between 02:00 and 05:00 that night, meaning those responsible knew that due to the stillness of the air, the heavy poisonous gas would naturally drift downwards rather than blowing away and would remain close to the ground, further increasing its lethality and providing an opportunity for the regime to kill and injure as many victims as possible. All of these factors lead us at the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) to believe that the Syrian regime had conceived a deliberately and meticulously orchestrated plan before that night to exterminate as many of the Syrian people as possible, including women and children, in one coordinated attack, knowing that the only ‘crime’ committed by those targeted was to have called for freedom and for an end to the regime’s despotic hereditary rule, and to have dared to reject its iron-fisted control and to disobey the orders of its security apparatus.

It is also important to remember that the area of the two Ghoutas was at that time under a crippling siege that had been imposed by the Syrian regime since the end of 2012, which blocked the entry of fuel and medical supplies. The resulting severe shortages of medicine and medical equipment also contributed to the massive casualty numbers from the chemical weapons attack.

All these factors outlined above led to many people being killed or injured. SNHR documented the killing of 1,144 individuals in that night’s attack, all of whom were asphyxiated by the chemical weapons used. The victims, whose names and personal details we have recorded, are divided into:

• 1,119 civilians, including 99 children and 194 women (adult female).
• 25 armed opposition fighters.

We also documented that 5,935 survivors of these unspeakable attacks suffered severe respiratory problems and suffocation.

The death toll from the Two Ghoutas attack accounts for 76 percent of all the victims killed in the chemical weapons attacks carried out by the Syrian regime between December 2012 and the last documented chemical weapons attack on SNHR’s database, which took place in May 2019 in al-Kbeina in rural Latakia.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

Since Tuesday, August 6, 2024, the villages and towns located along the two banks of the Euphrates River in eastern rural Deir Ez-Zour governorate have been witnessing military escalation and tit-for-tat attacks between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab tribal forces who are backed by Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias. The escalated hostilities were triggered by a large-scale attack by Arab tribes originating from regime-held areas which targeted SDF military outposts. Since then, the situation has devolved into reciprocal bombardment by the two parties which has seen the use of heavy weapons (heavy artillery, rocket launchers, and heavy machine guns).

From August 6, 2024, up until August 13, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has documented the killing of at least 17 civilians, including eight children and six women, and the injury of at least 34 others, in the indiscriminate attacks, which have involved the use of heavy weapons and gunfire during the clashes that took place in areas under the control of the two parties. Ground attacks by regime forces have resulted in two massacres, in which 11 civilians, including six children and four women, were killed in the SDF-held town of al-Dahla, with another woman killed in the Abu Hamam town, which is also controlled by the SDF. Meanwhile, similar attacks carried out by the SDF on the town of al-Boulayl in a regime-controlled area killed one woman and a girl. Three other civilians, including a child, were also killed during the armed clashes between the two sides, which saw the use of small arms and artillery shells, with the specific party from the two warring parties responsible for these three killings not yet accurately identified.

Adding to the suffering, the escalated hostilities have pushed hundreds of civilians living in the affected areas, both those controlled by regime forces and by the SDF, to flee. Large displacement movements have been seen in the SDF-held villages and town of Theyban, al-Keshkiya, Abu Hamam, al-Bseira, al-Zer, al-Sabha, al-Dahla, and Jedid Bakkara, due to these areas being targeted in artillery attacks by regime forces, in addition to clashes taking place nearby. On the other side, the regime-held towns of al-Boulayl, al-Toub, Buqrus, al-Dwair, and al-Kashma have also seen displacement waves due to being targeted with mortar shells by the SDF stationed across the Euphrates River from these towns. On both sides, the largest proportions of displaced people came from the areas close to the banks of the Euphrates River.

Furthermore, civilians’ houses and other properties have been destroyed as a result of the hostilities, while civilian service facilities have also been damaged amid the clashes and bombardment, especially water pumping stations, some of which were repurposed as military outposts by the warring parties. Given the searing summer heat and the dangers posed by the continuing hostilities and bombardment, this means civilians have faced further severe difficulties in safely securing drinking water, with approximately 100,000 local residents at risk of losing access to drinking water due to many water stations having been put out of commission.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) must stress that the two warring parties have unequivocally violated many rules of customary international law, particularly through failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants, which has spread mass fear and panic among civilians, driving them into forced displacement.

We call on the warring parties to immediately end their escalation and indiscriminate attacks. The two sides must take the necessary steps to protect the essential civilian infrastructure, especially water-pumping stations. Those facilities must be disarmed, and they must be recommissioned to ensure access to clean water for all. As soon as the situation has calmed down, conditions must be realized to ensure a safe and voluntary return for civilians displaced from their homes, which involves removing unexploded residual ammunition, and repairing damaged residences.