267 Civilians, Including One Media Worker and Five Medical and Civil Defense Personnel, Documented Killed in Syria in August 2019

ARK News: The SNHR announced in its monthly report released today that at least 267 Civilians, including one media worker and five medical and Civil Defense personnel, were documented killed in Syria in August 2019, in addition to 25 persons who died due to torture at the hands of the main perpetrator parties to the conflict in Syria.

The report records the deaths of 267 civilians in August, including 72 children and 21 women (adult female). This figure is broken down according to the perpetrators in each case, with 130 civilians, including 36 children and 12 women, killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while 60 civilians, including 15 children and seven women, were killed at the hands of Russian forces, and two civilians were killed at the hands of ISIS, while one civilian was killed at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

The report also documents in August the deaths of two civilians at the hands of factions of the Armed Opposition, and nine civilians, including four children and one woman, were killed at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces. The report also documents 63 civilians, including 17 children and one woman, killed at the hands of other parties.
The report records that among the victims were two of the medical personnel, all of whom killed in attacks launched by Russian forces, and three members of the Civil Defense personnel, one of whom was killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while the other two were killed as a result of Russian air attacks.

The report also documents in August the deaths of one media worker, who was killed in a detention center of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

According to the report, the SNHR’s working team documented at least 25 people died due to torture in August; 18 of these victims died at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, one at the hands of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, one at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, and five at the hands of other parties, including a woman and her fetus.

The report calls on the Security Council to take additional steps following its adoption of Resolution 2254, and stresses the importance of referring the Syrian case to the International Criminal Court, adding that all those who are responsible should be held accountable including the Russian regime whose involvement in war crimes has been repeatedly proven.

The report also calls on the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria to condemn the perpetrators of crimes and massacres and those who were primarily responsible for dooming the de-escalation agreements to failure, to re-sequence the peace process.

The report emphasizes that the Russian regime must launch investigations into the incidents included in this report, make the findings of these investigations public for the Syrian people, and hold the people involved accountable, as well as demanding that the Russian regime, as a guarantor party in Astana talks, should stop thwarting de-escalation agreements.

The report also stresses that the Syrian regime must stop the indiscriminate shelling and targeting residential areas, hospitals, schools, and markets, as well as ending the acts of torture that have caused the deaths of thousands of Syrian citizens in detention centers, and complying with UN Security Council resolutions and customary humanitarian law.

Lastly, the report stresses the need for international organizations to develop urgent operational plans to secure decent shelter for internally displaced persons.

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