Rights Group: 3,364 Civilians Killed Across Syria in 2019, Mostly by Assad Regime Forces

ARK News: As many as 3,364 civilians, including 842 children and 747 women, were killed across Syria in 2019, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said. It also said that it had compiled a list of the names of 4,671 people who were arbitrarily detained in 2019, including 224 children and 205 women, noting that the Assad regime forces were responsible for the majority of civilian deaths.

In a report issued on Wednesday, the Network said that the Assad regime forces and the Iranian terrorist militias killed 1,497 civilians, including 371 children and 333 women. The victims included six media workers, 14 medical workers, and three civil defense volunteers, the Network said, adding that 275 people were killed under torture.

According to the report, 452 civilians were killed in attacks by the Russian forces, including 112 children, 119 women, two media workers, six medical personnel, and nine civil defense volunteers. The report indicated that 68 civilians were killed in attacks by the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition, including 20 children, 17 women, and one medical worker.

Furthermore, the monitoring group said that 164 civilians were killed at the hands of the PYD militants, including 50 children, 32 women, and 13 people who were killed under torture. The ISIS extremist group, meanwhile, killed 94 civilians, including 11 children and eight women during the reporting period.

The Network went on to say that 45 civilians were killed at the hands of the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham militant group, including six children, four women, one media worker, one medical worker, and four people who died under torture. It said that 21 civilians were killed in attacks that the rights group said were untraceable, including eight children, four women, and four people who were killed under torture.

In its report, the Network noted that 1019 civilians were killed by unidentified groups, including 264 children, 230 women, four media workers, four medical workers, four civil defense volunteers, and nine people who were killed under torture.

The Network also said that it recorded at least 109 massacres that took place in 2019, of which 43 were committed by the Assad regime forces and the Iranian militias. Russia was responsible for 22 massacres, while the PYD militants committed six others. The international anti-ISIS coalition committed three massacres, while 35 massacres were committed by unidentified groups, the Network added.

Moreover, the report indicated that the Assad regime forces detained 2,797 people in 2019, including 113 children and 25 women, while ISIS detained 64 people, including two children and a woman. The PYD militia detained 1,102 people, including 81 children and 56 women, while HTS detained 303 people, including eight children and four women. Unidentified groups detained 405 people, including 20 children and 19 women.

The Network called for referring Syria to the International Criminal Court and holding all those involved in war crimes to account, including the Russian regime whose responsibility for war crimes was proved.

Source: Syrian National Coalition

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