Human rights report: About 231,278 civilians have been killed in Syria since 2011

ARK News… The Syrian Network for Human Rights said in its report on the occasion of “the thirteenth anniversary of the launch of the popular movement towards democracy in Syria” that it documented the killing of 231,278 civilians, explaining that “the Syrian people, who came out demanding a democratic political transition, were left alone in the face of the most powerful dictatorial regimes.”

The report stated: “The Syrian people set out thirteen years ago with unreasonable courage, through which they sought to transform the Syrian nation from a nation ruled by one family with iron and fire, to a democracy based on free elections, and demanded the restoration of their dignity stolen by the brutal security services.”

It continued: “The popular demonstrations swept across the various Syrian governorates, and thus demonstrated a collective aspiration for peaceful change towards restoring the country’s rule from the security grip and individual rule. However, the Syrian regime’s response was brutal repression.

The peaceful demonstrations were met with live bullets and mass arrest campaigns targeting the leaders of the demonstrations. The detainees were subjected to severe torture, which led to deaths under torture, and thousands of political detainees remain forcibly disappeared since 2011 until now.”

The report reviewed an update on the outcome of the most prominent human rights violations in Syria from March 2011 until March 2024. According to the report, at least 231,278 civilians, including 30,193 children and 16,451 women (adult female), were killed at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria. Data analysis showed that 91% of the victims were killed by Syrian regime forces and its allies.

The report documented at least 156,757 people, including 5,235 children and 10,205 women (adult female), who are still under arrest or forcibly disappeared by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria. It was also recorded that at least 15,334 people were killed due to torture, including 199 children and 115 women (adult female).

The report stated that more than half of the Syrian population are displaced or refugees, pointing to estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that indicate that approximately 13.4 million Syrians have been forced to be internally displaced or take refuge in other countries since March 2011. According to the report, “restoring relations with the Syrian regime, which continues to commit crimes against humanity against the Syrian people, is a violation of international law and the rights of millions of victims.”

The report recommended that members of the Security Council stop using the veto to protect the Syrian regime, which has committed thousands of violations over the course of thirteen years, many of which constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. It demanded that the fate of approximately 113,000 forcibly disappeared people in Syria be revealed, 86% of whom are in the hands of the Syrian regime.

It also called for the Syrian file to be referred to the International Criminal Court and for all those involved in crimes against humanity and war crimes to be held accountable, and work seriously to achieve a political transition in accordance with the One Geneva Statement and Security Council Resolution No. 2254, in an effort to achieve stability and territorial integrity in Syria and the dignified and safe return of refugees and displaced persons.

The report recommended that the international community take serious punitive measures against the Syrian regime to deter it from continuing to kill Syrian citizens under torture, and to put pressure on the rest of the parties to the conflict in various possible ways to stop the use of torture once and for all.

It also recommended stopping any forced return of Syrian refugees, because the conditions in Syria are still unsafe, and pressing for a political transition that guarantees the automatic return of millions of refugees.

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