Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) th The 16 Annual Report on Human Rights Situation in Syria JANUARY – DECEMBER 2017 JANUARY 2018 Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................. 3 GENOCIDE ................................................................................................ 7 THE DOCUMENTED MASSACRES OF 2017 ................................................. 10 ARREST AND KIDNAPPING ........................................................................ 28 FORCED DISPLACEMENT & DEMOGRAPHIC ALTERATION ............................... 33 SIEGE AND LACK OF DAILY SUSTENANCE NEEDS ........................................ 36 TARGETING MEDICAL & EMERGENCY AID SECTOR ....................................... 38 DOCUMENTED VIOLATIONS AGAINST MEDICAL AND EMERGENCY AID SECTOR IN 2017 ............................................................................................... 39 1. TARGETING HEALTHCARE AND RESCUE WORK ................................... 39 2. TARGETING OFFICES AND CENTRES OF EMERGENCY WORK ................ 45 3. TARGETING VEHICLES .................................................................... 47 4. TARGETING HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL CENTRES................................ 50 TARGETING THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS ................................................ 54 VIOLATIONS COMMITTED AGAINST MEDIA IN 2017 .................................. 57 1. MEDIA WORKER DEATHS ................................................................. 57 2. MEDIA WORKERS INJURY ................................................................ 62 3. MEDIA WORKERS ARRESTS ............................................................. 66 4. TARGETING MEDIA CENTERS ........................................................... 69 TARGETING THE EDUCATION SECTOR ........................................................ 70 VIOLATIONS COMMITTED AGAINST THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR IN 2017 .... 72 REFUGE AND DISPLACEMENT .................................................................... 78 TARGETING PLACES OF WORSHIP, ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE ................ 85 VIOLAIONS COMMITTED AGAINST HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN 2017 .............. 87 TARGETING SERVICES SECTOR ................................................................. 92 1- MARKETS AND COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CENTRES ...................... 92 2-BRIDGES ........................................................................................... 94 3- ELECTRICITY SECTOR ....................................................................... 94 4-POST SECTOR .................................................................................... 95 5-WATER SECTOR ................................................................................. 95 2 Introduction During the past seven years, Syrians have been victims to unprecedented violations, exceeding any registered throughout the area and even the world at large at times. At least 500,000 people have been killed in Syria in these past seven years due to direct combat action. Those killed due to indirect reasons like heart attacks, and shortages in medicine, food, and medical attention may number more than this figure. In addition to the dead, estimates indicate the wounded may number at least 2 million, i.e. SHRC 10%+ of all Syrians have either been wounded or documented the killed in these past seven years. It also means that death of hundreds of thousands of Syrians need additional (12,375) people special care in order to receive the already limited during 2017, basic services available. averaging 1031 people a month The Syrian Human Rights Committee estimates that at least 150,000 people have been arrested in the past years for different periods. The Regime’s security apparatuses routinely detain and arrest individuals in all areas under its control. Such detentions may last hours or days; whereas others may die under torture. The number of those detained at any stage since the onset of the revolution is not specifically known as arrests do not follow due process and detainees are held incommunicado. In most cases, families do not know the fate of their sons and daughters until they are released or when delivered as corpses. Also, as there are many arresting agencies, the whereabouts, reason, or fate of detainees is little known. The exceptional security situation has led to an increase of torture in Regime prisons to unprecedented levels. It is estimated that at least 30,000 people have been killed under torture in the past years, most of whose fate is yet unknown. In addition to Regime forces, Iranian backed sectarian militias have been present since 2011. These militias have actively taken part in murders and massacres witnessed in Syria during the past years, and have physically taken part in besieging a number of cities and forcing their inhabitants to flee them, particularly in Homs and Rif Dimashq. The presence of these militias has not been condemned even once by the international community, allowing them to benefit from the international legitimacy the international community preserved for the Syrian regime. This has legalised the existence of foreign fighters in Syria who support the Regime. 3 Russian military intervention in the last quarter of 2015 raised violations to a new level as it pursued a Scorched Earth policy, using advanced weapons and excessive firepower. Accordingly, tens of thousands of Syrians have died in these two years. Russia also strengthened the Regime’s military status – which was on the brink of collapse before the Russians arrived – as per official Russian statements. The change of instructions given to American air force by the US Administration in early 2017 also led to a sharp increase in victims of US bombing in Syria during that year. The Coalition, led by the US, became the main perpetrator of massacres in Syria in most of 2017. The majority of these massacres centred around the Eastern areas controlled by the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL). ISIL also continued to commit violations against civilians living in The number of those detained the territories it controlled, and in at any stage is not specifically becoming a reason for other actors known as arrests do not to commit atrocities against these follow due process and civilian, rendering them paying the detainees are held price twofold, and at high cost! incommunicado. homes. Syria Democratic Forces (PYD), the military wing of the Kurdish Democratic Federation Party, gained international legitimacy by being handed the reigns of the land war on ISIL in ar-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zour. This action allowed the former to target public freedoms in all areas under its rule such as all its Kurdish opposition and others, and prevented the media, parties, and opposition societies from carrying out their work. It also forced the conscription of youth to fight within its ranks. Analysis by the Syrian Human Rights Committee of the names of the fallen from among PYD fighters in the battles of ar-Raqqa and Deir ez- Zour, which the latter publishes daily, shows an increase in the figures of Arab fighters among the PYD to more than 50%. This is despite the fact that the percentage of Arab fighters within the PYD does not exceed 20% at best. As such, it is an indication that the PYD leadership is deliberately placing Arab fighters at advanced lines of combat. 2017 witnessed a persisted failure of Opposition factions in uniting or coordinating together, rendering them the only non-organised component among all actors. Such disarray manifested, legally, at two levels: First, the diversity of human rights’ abuses between one Opposition region and another, each in accordance with the faction’s ideology and its policy towards civil society; and second, the failure of judicial and criminal establishments in Opposition areas as there exists no unified police apparatus nor judiciary that ensures even the bare minimum of citizens’ rights. Yet this exists in areas controlled by the Regime, the Kurds, and even ISIL itself. 4 This year witnessed multiple violations by opposition factions, and Tahreer al-Sham Commission as per past years, was the at their helm. Yet this year also witnessed an almost complete cessation of Mortar shells attacks that used to be launched from Opposition controlled areas in Aleppo and Damascus towards civilian areas under Regime control. This limited the number of victims killed by the Opposition this year. Unrelenting violations have forced 50% of Syrians to flee their homes, and in becoming the largest group of refugees around the world, as well as the largest group thereof from a single country. The Syrian refugee crisis became a cause of public opinion throughout most countries, particularly in Europe. The health sector suffered dangerous relapses since the onset of the revolution in Syria in 2011. Those targeted included hospital, medical centres, health workers, and the medicine and equipment thereof was prevented from reaching besieged and combat areas. The widespread targeting of the health sector led to a sharp shortage in medical staff, who 2017 witnessed a were either killed, imprisoned, sought number of forced asylum, or emigrated. This forced the health displacement establishment to rely more increasingly on agreements whereby volunteers who lacked sufficient expertise. about 40,000 people Refugees’ distance from their homes is but were forced to leave one element of the problems they face in their homes. addition to alarming effects that are