The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said it has documented 25 massacres committed in Syria during the month of May, mostly at the hands of the Assad regime and Russian forces.
In a report released on Tuesday, SNHR listed the number of massacres as follows: 16 by regime forces, 3 by Russian forces, 5 by ISIS, and 1 by the international coalition forces.
According to the report, women and children make up 45 per cent of the victims of these massacres, which claimed the lives of 302 people, including 72 children and 63 women.
SNHR added that the 16 massacres perpetrated by regime forces were distributed in Syria’s provinces as follows: 5 in Idlib; 4 in Homs; 2 in each of Aleppo, Damascus and Deir Ezzor; and 1 in Raqqa.
The massacres Russian forces have committed were distributed as follows: 1 in Idlib and 2 in Aleppo, while the massacres ISIS have carried out were distributed as follows: 3 in Lattakia, and 1 in each of Homs and Tartous. The massacre the international coalition forces have carried out took place in Aleppo province.
The report pointed out that the nature of the massacres perpetrated by regime forces, the excessive use of force; the indiscriminate nature of bombing; and the coordinated nature of the attacks indicate that these attacks were carried out following orders from regime officials at the highest level and amount to state terrorism.
The report put forward a set of recommendations that included referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court and forcing the Assad regime to give access to relief and human rights organizations as well as access to the International Commission of Inquiry and independent journalists. They also included adding the militias fighting alongside regime forces which were complicit in large-scale massacres to the international list of terrorist groups; most notably Hezbollah militias, other Iranian-backed Shiite militias, the so-called National Defense Forces and the paramilitary “shabeeha” militias. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
