On January 1, 2023, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released its latest report on what occurred in Syria in 2022. It states that “1,057 civilians were killed, including 251 children, 94 women, and 133 victims who died due to torture.” Although these statistics covered the entire year of 2022, the report also noted that the violence against civilians continues to be rampant with “55 civilians killed in December including nine children, two women, and three victims who died due to torture.”
SNHR has been documenting the names of those killed in Syria and categorizing and cataloging them according to data such as gender, age, date of death, place of death, governorate of origin, and the party responsible for the death
The 30-page report also noted that the killing continues to be committed in a widespread and systematic manner primarily by Assad regime forces and pro-regime militias. Since 2011, SNHR has been documenting the names of those killed in Syria and categorizing and cataloging them according to data such as gender, age, date of death, place of death, governorate of origin, and the party responsible for the death. The latter has become more comprehensive in the past 10 years as new parties have become involved in the conflict.
The report also includes statistics on specific groups such as “children and women victims, victims who died due to torture, and victims among medical personnel, media personnel, and civil defense personnel” as well as “extrajudicial killings by the controlling forces which occurred as a violation of either international human rights law or international humanitarian law or both.” The report does NOT include those who died due to natural causes or as a result of disputes unrelated to the conflict that began in the Spring of 2011.
“the Syrian regime only allows death certificates to be issued for those who meet the narrow criteria set by the regime and its security services“
SNHR 2022 Report
The report also notes that “the Syrian regime only allows death certificates to be issued for those who meet the narrow criteria set by the regime and its security services,” and that it “exerts absolute control over the issuance of death certificates, which are not made available to any of the families of its victims, including the missing and forcibly disappeared, whether these victims were killed at the hands of the Syrian regime or by other affiliated parties.” It also notes that family members of the victims are more often than not reluctant to request death certificates for their loved ones even if they are issued as doing so will result in further targeting of the family by the Assad regime which has labeled all of their victims as “terrorists” since the revolution began.
the SNHR annual report for 2022 stresses that the killing of civilians has been continuous for 12 consecutive years
As an overall commentary on the ongoing crisis in Syria, the SNHR annual report for 2022 stresses that the killing of civilians has been continuous for 12 consecutive years “resulting in casualty numbers that are among the highest worldwide” and “underlines the fact that Syria is still the most dangerous nation in the world for civilians, and remains an exceptionally insecure and perilous environment wholly
