The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that the Assad regime is committing war crimes against detainees as at least 133 people were under torture in its prisons in the first half of 2018.
In a new report released on Tuesday, the Network said that 84 people died under torture in June. A total of 146 people were killed under torture in Syria in the first half of 2018, the Network said, adding that 91% of them were killed by the Assad regime.
Previous reports by the Network documented the Assad regime’s use of all methods of torture against detainees in its prisons, noting that torture of detainees had usually “sectarian nature.”
According to the report, 89 people died under torture in Syria in June, 94 percent of whom were killed by the Assad regime forces. The rights group said that the majority of the victims were from Rural Damascus and Hama provinces. The civil register in the district of Muadamiayt al-Shaam has recently published the names of 165 people who died while in custody of the Assad regime’s security apparatuses. A similar list was also published in Hama.
SNHR’s director Fadel Abdul Ghani stressed the need to apply the principle of ‘responsibility to protect’ in view of the failure of all efforts to protect civilians in Syria. He noted that war crimes are being committed on a daily basis against civilians in Syria.
The report indicated that the Assad regime used large-scale torture in several institutions, adding that the regime was fully aware of what was happening in its detention centers and of the torture methods being used against civilians. It stressed that these acts constituted war crime that is punishable by international law, calling on the UN Security Council and the international community to take all measures to punish perpetrators of war crimes in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
