The Basics · The Government · ISIS · The Opposition · Global Players

WEEKLY UPDATE
July 9, 2016

 

Dear Readers, 

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:

The week began on a hopeful note in Syria, as opposing international players agreed to cooperate for the sake of a political solution to the crisis, and the Syrian government announced a nationwide cease-fire for the occasion of Eid, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But by the week’s end, the truce had broken down and some 300,000 civilians were besieged in Syria’s largest city.

After more than five months of increased violence in Aleppo, forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have managed to cut the opposition’s only supply route in Aleppo: Castello Road. This most recent offensive for Aleppo is one of the Syrian government’s many attempts at seizing the city’s eastern areas, which have been an opposition stronghold since 2012.

Rebels said they are fighting back and have sent for reinforcements to try to regain their positions, but overnight airstrikes worsened their situation. A volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense told Syria Deeply that Syrian government and Russian aircrafts were constantly above the city and countryside of Aleppo province. He added that two heavy attacks hit the city on Thursday, both of which the volunteer team believes were by Russian warplanes.

The United States voiced its concerns over the situation in Aleppo and an American intelligence official said, “This campaign exacerbates an already dire humanitarian situation and sets the stage for a humanitarian catastrophe.”

However, U.S. diplomatic decisions took a different tone this week. The day before the siege began, the United States and Russia agreed to increase their military coordination in Syria. The military partnership between Washington and Moscow would see a renewed commitment between the two countries to defeat terrorist groups in Syria.

The announcement came after a week of complicating alliances between foreign powers involved in the Syrian conflict. Ayatollah Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, said that his country will never work with the U.S. in Syria or in other regional conflicts. Iran is the Syrian government’s biggest supporter and is also aligned with Russia.

Russia gained another hopeful ally this week. Turkey, a partner in the U.S.-backed coalition against ISIS and a supporter of the Syrian opposition, said it is open to cooperating with Russia when it comes to fighting ISIS.

Formerly unfriendly countries may be warming up to each other diplomatically for the fight against ISIS in Syria, but the situation on the ground tells a different story.

The New Syrian Army, a U.S.-backed rebel group, was pushed back into the desert last week after a failed offensive in the ISIS-controlled town al-Bukamal, near the Iraqi border. The U.S. is currently investigating claims that American warplanes abandoned rebels after being diverted from Syria to Iraq.

Weekly Highlights:

Operating Under Siege and Bombs in Aleppo

As eastern Aleppo comes under siege by Syrian government forces, Syria Deeply goes inside one of the last remaining proper hospitals in the eastern opposition-held areas of the city and talks with a general surgeon operating amid the increasing violence.

Conversations: Selling Military Antiques in Wartime

Abu Abdo owns an antique shop in Eastern Ghouta, one of the heaviest-hit areas in the war-ravaged country. The shop owner spoke with Syria Deeply about his decision to remain in his war-torn hometown and keep his family’s business running, despite no longer being able to sell anything.

The Silent Suffering of Syria’s Chronically Ill

In the first installment of our series on chronic illnesses in Syria, we explore how the war has destroyed the country’s healthcare system, left millions of Syrians unable to manage their conditions and led to severe complications and untold unnecessary deaths.Worsening health conditions in Syria have also allowed for the resurgence of life-threatening illnesses that had largely been eradicated.

Additional Reading:

• My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 74
• Constructive Development Solutions During War

For new reporting and analysis every weekday, visit www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Top image: Abu Abdo holds a dagger called “Karda”. Eastern Ghouta, June, 2016. Syria Deeply

Read the original post here.

The Basics · The Government · ISIS · The Opposition · Global Players

WEEKLY UPDATE
July 2, 2016

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:

This week in Syria was marked by shifting international alliances, and events have underlined the Syrian war’s effect on the international stage. Most notably, both Turkey and the United States, two main supporters of the Syrian opposition, have signaled their desire to partner with Russia, a staunch supporter of the Syrian government.

The United States proposed new military cooperation with Russia. The proposal would see Russia working alongside the U.S. to target Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria. In return, Russia would have to pressure the Syrian government to halt its campaign against U.S.-backed rebel groups and designate certain areas as “safe” from Syrian aerial bombing.

Turkey, a primary backer of several Syrian opposition groups, appears to also be making moves to get closer to Russia. A Russian news agency quoted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying that the two countries should work closer together to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

As the U.S. and Turkey inch closer to Russia, the Syrian opposition is calling on the international community to limit Moscow’s power in the war-torn country. Syria’s main opposition body, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) presented a detailed document to the European Union calling on them to impose sanctions on Russian companies aiding the war in Syria, specifically those that deal in arms shipments.

Some 24 NGOs, including the Syrian Civil Defense and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, threatened to quit the Geneva-based peace talks for political transition in Syria. The letter states that the ongoing fighting in Syria had made their presence at peace talks “meaningless” and “unnecessary.”

One month away from the August 1 deadline, the U.N.-brokered peace talks are far from being completed. The talks officially collapsed in late April when the HNC suspended its participation in negotiations. However, this week the U.N.’s Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura stated that progress with political transition in Syria would still be possible by the deadline.

On Syria’s battlefields, the weekend began with a devastating attack in Deir Ezzor. At least 45 people, including children, were killed in a series of heavy airstrikes from Russian and Syrian forces on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The attack targeted the town of Qourieh, which is largely controlled by the so-called Islamic State group.

The battle continued in Aleppo this week. Some 70 government and rebel fighters were killed in the 24 hours leading up to Friday in Aleppo’s suburbs, as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continue their campaign to seize Aleppo’s strategically significant supply lines.

The Teacher: How One Woman Educated an Entire Camp

Umm ’Abdu abandoned her education when she got married. But after the war broke out in Syria, she fled the opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo for government-controlled Tartus, and devoted her life to tutoring children. One day, she hopes to fulfill her dream of becoming a midwife.

Children are Fighting on All Sides of Syria’s War

Whether it is with the Free Syrian Army or the pro-government National Defense Forces militia, ISIS or the Kurds, children across the war-torn country have consistently been recruited to fight in Syria’s war.

How Hafez al-Assad Divided the Alawite Sect

It may have been 16 years since the death of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, but his legacy still lives on in the war-torn country’s sectarian politics.

Additional Reading:

• Why Parenting in a Refugee Camp Can Be Tough

For new reporting and analysis every weekday, visit www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Top image: Umm ʿAbdu’s daughter, Siham, drew her own map of Syria with all the governorates on the tent where her mother teaches in government-controlled Tartus. Ghenwa Yusuf/Good Morning Syria

The original post can be found here.

SNHR has published its monthly report for the month of June in which it documented the killing of 1271 civilians in June and 6567 civilians in the first half of 2016 at the hands of the main influential parties in Syria.
The report points out the notable and relatively good decline in killing rates after the commencement of the Cessation of Hostilities statement on 27 February 2016 compared to the previous months since March 2011 especially in areas controlled by armed opposition factions given that other areas such the areas controlled by the Democratic Union Parties and the Syrian regime are not targeted with a heavily and daily aerial bombing which is the main cause behind the killing of more than 60% of victims, destruction of building, and displacement of residents. However, one day after the High Negotiation Committee decided to postpone its participation in Geneva talk on 19 April, government forces and Russian forces resumed bombing areas outside the Syrian regime’s control and the killing rates increased back to its former levels before the Cessation of Hostilities.

Additionally, the report notes that SNHR team encounters difficulties in documenting victims from armed opposition factions as many of those victims fall on battlefronts and not inside cities. Also, we aren’t able to obtain details such as names, pictures and other important details on account of the armed opposition forces’ unwillingness to reveal such information for security among other reasons. Therefore, the actual number of victims is much greater than what is being recorded.
The report notes that It is almost impossible to access information about victims from government forces and ISIS, and the margin of error is considerably higher due to the lack of any applicable methodology in this type of documentation. The Syrian government and ISIS don’t publish, reveal, or record their victims. From our perspective, the statistics published by some groups on this category of victims are fictitious and are not based on any actual data.
Therefore, the report only includes civilian victims who were killed by all parties and compare them
The report noted that 3417 civilians were killed by government forces in the first half of 2016 including 590 children (four children are killed every day), 422 women, and no less than 230 individuals due to torture.

The percentage of children and women among civilian victims is 30% which suggests that government forces are deliberately targeting civilians.
Also, the report recorded that 1378 civilians including 310 children and 179 women were killed by allegedly Russian forces.
Self-administration forces killed 78 civilians, including 10 children, three women, and two individuals due to torture.
Furthermore, 785 civilians were killed by extremist Islamic groups as follows:
ISIS killed 764 civilians including 103 children, 146 women, and seven individuals due to torture, while Al-Nussra Front killed 21 civilians including two children, one woman, and two individuals due to torture.
The report also recorded the killing of 462 civilians including 118 children, 109 women, and two individuals due to torture at the hands of armed opposition factions during the first half of 2016.
On the other hand, international coalition forces killed 127 civilians including 54 children and 22 women.
Additionally, the report documented the killing of 266 civilians including 70 children and 38 women who either drowned to death as they were feeling, or in bombings that were carried out by parties that SNHR has not been able to identify or by unknown armed groups to SNHR.
Also, the report included civilian death toll for the month of June 2016 where government forces killed 706 civilians including 101 children (four children are killed every day), 79 women, and 32 individuals at least due to torture.
The report also notes that 187 civilians including 57 children and 32 women were killed by allegedly Russian forces.

Furthermore, self-management forces (consisting mainly of the Democratic Union Party forces, a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party) killed 38 civilians including four children and two women.
ISIS killed 116 civilians including 19 children and 10 women.
The report also records that armed opposition factions killed 72 civilians including 17 children and 16 women, while international coalition forces killed 76 civilians including 39 children and 11 in June.
Also, 76 civilians, including 22 children and 11 women, either drowned to death as they were fleeing or in bombings carried out by parties that SNHR has not been able to identify or by unknown armed groups to SNHR.
The report emphasizes that government forces and Russian forces have violated the international human rights law which guarantees the right to life. In addition, there are tens of cases that fulfill all the elements of war crimes in relation to murder. Evidences and proofs, according to hundreds of eyewitnesses’ accounts, suggest that 90% at least of the widespread and single attacks carried out by government forces and its loyal forces were directed against civilians and civilian facilities.
Moreover, Extremist Islamic groups perpetrated a number of extrajudicial killings that amount to war crimes.

The report also notes that some of the armed opposition factions perpetrated extrajudicial killings that amount to war crimes as well. Additionally, the Democratic Union Party forces perpetrated war crimes through the crime of extrajudicial killing.
The report calls on the security council and the relevant international institutions to uphold its responsibilities with respect to the continuous and ceaseless killing crimes, and to press on the Syrian government to cease the indiscriminate and deliberate bombing against civilians.
Furthermore, the report considers the Russian regime, all Shiite militias, and ISIS foreign parties that are effectively involved in the killings, and holds it and all the funders and supporters of the Syrian regime legally and judicially responsible.

 

Read the full report here.