The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that it recorded at least 183 arbitrary arrests across Syria in October, among them six children and five women, noting that the majority of arrests were carried out by the Assad regime. It said that the majority of these arrests took place in the Damascus suburbs.
In a report released on Saturday, the Network said that it recorded at least 117 barrel bombs that were dropped by Assad regime helicopters on Latakia province.
The monitoring group also said that it had recorded at least 25 attacks on vital civilian centers across Syria in October, including six on schools, one on a healthcare facility, and three on places of worship.
The report listed three attacks involving the use of cluster munitions in the same period, all of which were carried out by Assad regime forces in Idlib province and which killed one child and one woman as well as wounded five others.
According to the report, the available evidence indicated that the attacks targeted civilians and civilian objects. The Network said that the Assad regime forces and Russia committed various crimes in the reporting period, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance. It said that indiscriminate attacks and shelling destroyed civilian facilities and buildings.
The report added that the disproportionate, indiscriminate bombardment and shelling carried out by the international anti-ISIS coalition forces and the PYD militia violated international humanitarian law. It noted that extremist groups committed extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture.
The rights group said that the Assad regime’s forces violated international humanitarian and customary law as well as UN Security Council resolutions, most notably resolutions 2139, 2042 on the release of detainees, and resolution 2254.
The Network called on the UN Security Council to take further action pursuant to the issuance of UN Resolution 2254, stressing the need to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court and hold all those involved to account, including the Russian regime, after its responsibility for war crimes in Syria has been confirmed. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)