SNHR: 83598 people have been killed since Syria’s uprising against Bashar al-Assad

SNHR’s documentation policy requires that documents be provided from at least two different sources unconnected with each other.
SNHR does not issue statistics unless they are provided from files containing very precise details of each death case, fully identified by the name of the victim, as well as the date and location of death.
Using these standards, SNHR was adopted by the UN as one of the most important resources in statistics related to the victims of the Syrian conflicts, and from the renowned statistics provided at the beginning of this year, which stated the killing of 60.000 Syrian citizens.  SNHR was also adopted as the main source for many news agencies.
SNHR documented civilian casualties in addition to free army victims as a result of the possibility to apply the network’s criteria in documentation and verification.  This criteria is not applicable to the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces’ dead because such information compiling is restricted and subject to prosecution.
Between Syria’s uprising began in March 2011, and as of May 15 2013, SNHR documented that at least 80159 people were killed.  The distribution is as follows: 75992 civilians (91% civilian victims), 7606 Syrian Free Army (9% fighter brigades).
Among the civilians: 7686 women, 8329 children, and 2441 people who were tortured to death
(The following link to the official SNHR website is provided below, you can find the names and details of all the victims)
As a reference, we were able to document by name, location, photo and video within the available possibilities under the embargo and censorship imposed by the Syrian Government.  Although our estimation suggests that the real number of victims is double, up to nearly a quarter million.
In Syria, a civilian is killed by the Syrian Government’s Armed Troops every eight hours, 135 civilians are killed on a daily basis.  Every two hours a child killed, and every three hours a woman is killed.
The following chart shows the distribution of the 83598 victims in the Syrian governorates:
Damascus countryside: 17551 victims
Homs: 14254 victims
Aleppo: 11770 victims
Idlib: 10161 victims
Daraa: 7472 victims
Hama: 6492  victims
Damascus: 5597 victims
Dier Alzoor: 5477 victims
Lattakia: 1435 victims
Raqqa: 953 victims
Qunaitra: 651 victims
Hasaka: 638 victims
Tartous: 338 victims
Swidaa: 119 victims
Child victims:
Syrian Government’s Armed Forces killed 8329 children, including 82 children who were arrested and tortured to death.  The proportion of child victims relative to victims overall is 9%, which is considerably high, and indicates that civilians are deliberately targeted and systematically killed.  In addition there are almost 9000 children currently detained by Syrian Government’s Armed Forces.
Female victims:
Syrian Government’s Armed Forces killed 7686 women, including 24 women who were arrested and tortured to death.  Among the female victims, 2507 girls were killed.  The proportion of female victims relative to victims overall is 9%, which is considerably high, and indicates that civilians are deliberately targeted and systematically killed.  Nearly 6500 women are currently detained, and more than 5000 women were raped by Syrian Government’s Armed Forces.
Torturing to death:
Syrian Government’s Armed Forces systematically and deliberately violated international conventions and laws that clearly and explicitly prohibit torture by using very brutal torture methods against detainees.  Such actions led to the deaths of 2441 Syrian civilians, including 82 children, 24 women, 51 over senior citizens, and 106 armed rebels; This shows that less than 5% of those tortured were armed rebels, and the rest were civilians.
There is a high volume of cases for those who were tortured to death, but due to the restrictions and inaccessibility to work in the Syrian territory, we were unable to document them.  This reveals that the real number could be far greater than what is currently known, especially since there are prisons who torture people to death and throw the bodies of the tortured into vacant land or rivers in an effort to decompose and disintegrate them and blur the crime.
 
Condemnation And Responsibilities
Responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts, similarly Customary IHL provides that the state is responsible for all acts committed by a member of its military and security forces, thus, the state is responsible for those wrongful acts committed by its military and security forces including crimes against humanity.
Prohibition crimes against humanity are among the rules of jus cogens or peremptory, and the punishment of such crimes is compulsory according to the General principles of international law.  Moreover, the crimes against humanity are the highest violations of basic human rights, such as the right to life and the prohibition of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.  In accordance with the principles, the State is responsible under international law.  Syrian Arabic Republic must be held responsible for such crimes and violations, for the duty to ensure punishment of the perpetrators individually, and the duty to provide compensation to victims.
SNHR holds that all violations committed by the Syrian Government Armed Forces to the Syrian government and the  General Commander of the army and the armed forces, Bashar Al-Assad, and to all the officials of security branches, and to all  financial and moral supporters to those forces, with the legal judicial and material consequences to the victims and their families in addition to all the reactions that will come from the victims’ families or their friends.
 
Legal conclusions:
1-    Syrian Government Armed Forces committed extensive systematic crimes against humanity by unlawful killings
2-    Syrian Government Armed Forces committed these extensive systematic crimes in non international armed conflicts, so such crimes should be considered war crimes
3-   Syrian government by killing and targeting civilians violated both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law
Recommendations :
Syrian Governments   
1-    Immediately stop all human rights’ violations.
2-    Respect international obligations in the protection of civilians in time of war, and respect the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
 
Lebanese and Iraqi Governments   
The Lebanese and Iraqi Governments should control their borders, and the Government of Lebanon must take necessary measures to prevent Hezbollah from  attacking and occupying  Syrian territory, stop them from shelling Syrian territory from Lebanon, and to stop facilitating logistical supplies to Syria Government’s Armed forces.
International Commission of Inquiry :
The International Commission of inquiry must live up to its level of expectation and give an accurate description of violations committed by the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces against the Syrian people.
 
Human Rights Council:
1-    Demand the Security Council and the concerned international institutions to hold the Syrian government responsible for what’s happening for the Syrian People who suffer from murder, rape, displacement, and unlawful arrest
2-    Pay serious attention to cases involving death by torture, considered to be the worst type of crime.
3-    Pressure the Syrian Government Troops to stop torturing and  killing, and release all those who were kidnapped and arrested
4-    Hold alias and supporters of the Syrian Government Troops: Russia, Iran, and China, morally and physically responsible for what is happening to the Syrian people
Security Council:
1-     Refer all the criminals involved to the ICC
2-    Warn the Syrian Government Troops of the repercussions of using brutal methods on the stability of civil peace and coexistence between the people of the same society
3-    Add the Syrian National Army, Shabiha troops loyal to Syrian Government’s Armed troops, and Lebanese Hezbollah on the international terror list
Arab League:
1-    Demand the Human Rights Council and United Nations to give serious, and the appropriate attention, necessary to stop the daily killing
2-    Political and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian Government Troops ‘s mainallies-Russia, Iran, and China – to prevent them from continuously providing cover, and international and political protection for all the crimes committed against the Syrian people, and hold them morally and physically responsible for all the excesses of the Syrian Government Troops
3-    Serious attention of this case and give it high priority, and try to take care of victim families psychologically, materially, and educationally

SNHR: Humanitarian Rights and the Humanitarian Situation in Al-Qusayr City

Al-Qusayr city is located about 35 KM south of Homs, and previously had a population of nearly 30,000 people.

Since May 18, 2013 to this moment, Al-Qusayr has been exposed to the heaviest military attack by the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces, supported by the direct intervention of Hezbollah, the extremist militia.

Syrian Government Armed Forces are currently shelling the city with warplanes, while Hezbollah is shelling the city with surface to surface rockets.  In addition to shelling from artillery positions near a water refinery, which Hezbollah occupies,  it has cut the waterline to all of Al-Qusayr and Hama city in a deliberate attempt to prevent families from accessing water.

Bombardment rates were increased to nearly 50 shells per minute, and resulted in the death of 183 victims, and wounded more than 1,300 people.

In the middle of a shortage in medical equipment, and due to the Syrian government’s prevention of allowing aid to the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) could not visit al-Qusayr, and provide any kind of relief at all.

In addition to preventing relief to the city, the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces deliberately shelled the field hospital, completely destroying it.

Supplies and food materials are scarce, because there is no way to provide any grain flour to the city’s residents.

Residents cannot flee or escape due to the siege of the city.  Residents have tried repeatedly, but Hezbollah’s snipers had targeted and wounded a number of them.

Prepared by the Syrian Network for Human Rights

Guatemalan High Court Overturns Rios Montt’s Genocide Conviction

By Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The trial of former Guatemalan dictator General Efrain Rios Montt took a surprising turn on Monday when the Constitutional Court overturned Montt’s 80-year sentence for genocide. Citing illegal proceedings at the trial level, the Constitutional Court struck all proceedings in the trial subsequent to April 19.

Rios Montt’s time as dictator of Guatemala is believed to be the most violent period of the Guatemalan Civil War. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Trial judges dismissed Rios Montt’s attorney, Francisco Garcia, multiple times throughout the trial for attempting to have the judges recused “for bias”. The Constitutional Court noted that the trial should have been suspended to hear appeals rather than delaying them until after a conviction. Following the Court’s decision, Rios Montt’s attorney told a Washington Post reporter that he would be seeking his client’s freedom on Tuesday.

Rios Montt was on trial for the deaths of 1,771 Ixil Mayans during his 18-month rule as dictator from 1982-83. He originally gained power after a military coup during the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War. Over 100 witnesses came forward to testify at trial about rapes, killing of women and children, and other human rights violations committed by government forces during the period when Rios Montt was in power. The Civil War is estimated to have resulted in more than 200,000 deaths and over a million refugees. However, Rios Montt’s time in power is believed to have been the most violent of the War.

Rios Montt’s conviction marked the first time in history that a head of state was tried and convicted of genocide in a domestic court. His trial was met with heavy opposition from the Foundation Against Terrorism and the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF). Both groups ran advertisements denouncing both the trial and it supporters. The Foundation also brought hundreds of supporters from the Ixil region, including former military and indigenous people, to protest the trial.

Mario Polancko, director of a Guatemalan human rights group, told CNN that the Constitutional Court’s decision had “served the interests of those in power, and when it is one of the representatives of those in power who is on trial, they will resort to any means.” Polancko added, “I think there has been an abuse in the interpretation of the law.”

The Constitutional Court’s ruling does not signal the end of Rios Montt’s legal battle, however. The Court’s Secretary, Martin Guzman, told the Washington Post that the trial must be rolled back to April 19 to address the numerous appeals. Both sides will now have to return to court to redo the final weeks of the trial.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Guatemala annuls Rios Montt’s genocide conviction – 21 May 2013

CNN – Guatemala genocide conviction overturned – 21 May 2013

The Washington Post – Guatemala’s top court overturns genocide conviction of former leader Efrain Rios Montt – 21 May 2013

Al Jazeera – Guatemala: Rios Montt genocide trial ends with historic verdict – 15 May 2013

Raid on Bahrain Sheikh’s Home Fuels Tension

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrian – Angered by a security forces raid on the home of Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim, hundreds of Bahraini Shi’ite Muslims participated in a sit-in protest against their Sunni-led government on May 24th.  Sheikh Qassim, the most senior Shia cleric in the Gulf state, was not present in his home at the time of the raid.  Security forces seized documents but made no arrests.

Protesters carrying images of Sheikh Isa Qassim walk in Diraz 24 May 2013
Protesters carrying images of Sheikh Isa Qassim following a raid on his home. (Photo curtesy of BBC)

Shias make up the majority population in Bahrain, but most of the money and power is controlled by the Sunnis and the Sunni Royal Family.  Tensions and discrimination from this religious sectarianism have long been escalating. Lack of accountability has been regarded as the biggest problem for increasing tensions by Bahrain’s allies.

In February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in the Capital Manama but were later cleared out by the police force.  Those mostly affected by the police brutality were Shia Bahrainis where more than fifty people died, hundreds were jailed, and thousands lost their jobs.

Over the past two years, Bahrain has experienced numerous democracy protests in a battle for influence between Shia power Iran and Sunni Arab states including Saudi Arabia.  Many mass protests have been abolished, but smaller demonstrations continue where the Bahraini Shia majority wants the Sunni rules to raise elections and create a constitutional monarchy.

Al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s largest opposition political society, organized the May 24th sit-in protesting the raid on Sheikh Qassim’s home and announced that it would withdraw from reconcilliation talks with the Bahraini government.  Jasim Husain, a senior al-Wefaq member, stated that the raid “deeply offended” the Shia community.  The government’s promises to reform the human rights violations and police brutality against protestors have failed, claimed al-Wefaq.

The sit-in was held in Diraz near Sheikh Qassim’s mosque. Protestors waved Bahraini flags and held up images of Sheikh Qassim.  The protest was authorized by the government and the police did not attempt to stop protesters from entering the town.  However, one witness recounted that violence went on for more than an hour.  Protestors threw stones at riot police who then responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Three Sunni political societies issued a statement denouncing a meeting Sheikh Qassim had with Rashad Hussain, a senior U.S. state department official.  These societies have claimed that the Sheikh is responsible for the ongoing unrest in Bahrain and that this meeting was evidence that the position of the American government is “increasingly exposed in its support for terrorist operations in Bahrain.”

Bahraini Shias claim that the Sheikh’s meeting with Rashad Hussain was the driving force behind the raid on his home.  The police rejected notions of the raid on the Sheikh’s home being targeted and claimed that it occurred during a security operation in the same neighborhood.

For further information, please see:

Aljazeera – Bahraini protesters clash with police – 25 May 2013

Reuters – Bahraini protesters clash with police over raid on cleric’s home – 25 May 2013

BBC – Raid on Bahrain cleric’s home draws thousands to sit-in – 24 May 2013

BBC – Bahrain tensions a trigger for Gulf turmoil – 13 December 2013