“The Syrian refugee population in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey has currently reached 131,649.” (UNHCR, 3 August 2012, p. 1)

 

“Fighting in the Syrian capital Damascus has added to a growing problem of displacement within Syria, with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) now estimating that 1.5 million people are displaced across the country.“ (IRIN, 20 July 2012)

 

“Syria has barred most foreign journalists since the revolt began, making it hard to verify reports of events on the ground.” (AlertNet, 26 December 2011)

 

“Further, while Syrian authorities have issued more visas to foreign journalists, the authorities continue to restrict the movement of journalists within Syria and encumber their work.” (HRW, 20 January 2012)

   

   

KEY PLAYERS

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The majority of the protest movement is “apolitical, informed, frustrated, mostly between 20 and 40 and largely male. […] This cohort has been bolstered by a small but growing group of lawyers, artists and aid workers. […] In the last fortnight, members of the Damascus Declaration, a grouping of liberal and Islamist activists, have thrown their weight behind the protesters.” (Guardian, 15 April 2011)

 

“The opposition has crossed lines of religion, sect and ideology, but for the most part Christians reportedly fear the kind of regime that could replace al-Assad; the Druze are on the fence; while the Kurds support the uprising.” (IRIN, 28 September 2011)

 

“As the international community increasingly turns against al-Assad, analysts say a consistent proportion of Syrians have maintained a detached, if not hostile, position towards the ‘opposition’. Their reasons range from a desire for stability, regardless of its authoritarian enforcement, to the perception that elements of the opposition are inherently violent and radical. Ethnic minorities view the uprising through a survivalist lens, fostered by the narrative of the regime and some personal accounts. […] 

Stability is also crucial to the interdenominational beneficiaries (`mustafidin’) tied to the regime, as is clear from the loyalty of the Sunni-Christian bourgeoisie in Aleppo and Damascus.” (IRIN, 23 February 2012)

 

“The protesters have demanded an end to emergency laws and more freedoms. But they have also called for an end to abuses by the security services and the release of all political prisoners.” (Guardian, 16 April 2011)

 

“The spread of protests and growing demands – for dignity and reforms, then for the departure of the President – seemed to reflect the failure of a policy combining harsh repression with tardy political concessions.” (HRC, 15 September 2011, p. 8)

 

“Syrian opposition groups have grown increasingly organized as the uprising has unfolded, but remain divided over strategy and tactics.” (CRS, 9 November 2011, p. 3)

 

“The SNC [Syrian National Council], the largest and most representative Syrian opposition grouping, was founded in Istanbul at the end of August and numbers 140 members, half of them living in Syria.” (AFP, 19 October 2011)

 

“The Syrian National Council (SNC) was formally organized in Turkey in October 2011 and brings together a range of external activists, along with representatives of the Damascus Declaration Forces for National and Democratic Change, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and the Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC). The National Council has called for ‘immediate protection for civilians’, in contrast to some of its domestic counterparts. The Council also firmly believes that dialogue with the Asad government is impossible.” (CRS, 9 November 2011, p. 3-4)

 

“The National Co-ordination Committee (NCC), formed in September [2011], is made up of 13 left-leaning political parties, three Kurdish political parties, and independent political and youth activists. […] The NCC calls for dialogue conditional on the withdrawal of the military from the streets, the end of attacks on peaceful protesters by security forces, and the release of all political prisoners. The group is strongly opposed to any form of foreign intervention that would involve military measures, such as a no-fly zone, and would prefer economic sanctions and other diplomatic measures to increase pressure on President Assad.” (BBC, 1 March 2012)

 

“[…] the Free Syrian Army, formed in July [2011] and composed in part of defected army personnel, and others who have taken up arms with the stated intention of protecting their neighbourhoods.” (AI, 10 November 2011)

 

“The so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ (FSA) is one of the main proponents of foreign military intervention in Syria. […] The FSA operates loosely across Syria with a base in a refugee camp in Turkey close to the Syrian border. The FSA claims to have some 15,000 men, however it is likely that this number is inflated and that the force does not exceed a fraction of that size.” (CSIS, 13 December 2011, p. 19-20)

 

 

“Both the armed forces and the security forces have been involved in the suppression of peaceful protests and related violations across the Syrian Arab Republic. The civilian police have also been deployed in urban areas for the purposes of crowd control. In addition, an Alawite civilian militia known as the Shabbiha participated in the commission of abuses against civilians. According to multiple accounts obtained by the mission, foreign fighters had been present and active during operations in several locations.” (HRC, 15 September 2011, p. 8)

 

“Syrian authorities repeatedly claimed that the violence in the country has been perpetrated by armed terrorist gangs, incited and sponsored from abroad.” (HRW, 15 December 2011, p. 3)

 

“Initially, in the face of the growing protests and international condemnation, President al-Assad announced a number of reforms while also maintaining the repression. In particular, he lifted the 48-year national state of emergency and abolished the notoriously unfair Supreme State Security Court that had been used to jail countless government critics and dissenters. He also issued several amnesties for different categories of prisoners, under which some prisoners of conscience were freed, and passed decrees to allow peaceful demonstrations under certain conditions and the legal registration of political parties other than the ruling Ba’ath party. But these reforms had no impact on the brutal crackdown, and contained elements indicating that they were merely cosmetic.” (AI, 9 January 2012, p. 27)

 

“Syrian officials on Sunday [10 July 2011] formally opened what they described as a national dialogue aimed at a transition to multiparty democracy, but the country’s opposition leaders boycotted the event, […].” (NYT, 10 July 2011)

 

“Syria on Monday [19 December 2011] pledged full cooperation with the Arab League after it finally agreed to allow an observer mission to monitor a deal to end nine months of bloodshed, […].” (AFP, 19 December 2011)

 

“Syria […] agreed on Wednesday [2 November 2011] to an Arab League plan to pull the army out of cities, free political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition.” (AlertNet, 3 November 2011)

 

“Attacks by security forces against peaceful protests have been reported every day since the Arab League mission began. […], authorities transferred hundreds of detainees to improvised holding centers at military sites in an apparent effort to hide them from the monitors.” (HRW, 6 January 2012)

 

“Syrians voted Sunday [26 February 2012] on a new constitution in the face of opposition calls for a boycott and further bloodshed as Washington warned of civil war and urged troops to disobey orders to shoot. […] The text of the new constitutions ends the legal basis for the five-decade stranglehold on power of the ruling Baath party but leaves huge powers in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad.” (AFP, 26 February 2012)

  

“Syrian state television has meanwhile announced the results of a referendum on a new constitution, which was dismissed by opposition activists and the West as a sham. The poll showed around 89% support for the proposal, the report said, on a turnout of just over 57%.” (BBC, 28 February 2012)

 

“A spokesman for Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League special envoy for the Syrian crisis, has announced that the Syrian government has accepted Annan's plan for ending the conflict. […] Annan's plan calls for an immediate end to the violence, humanitarian access to besieged areas, and for dialogue between the government and opposition.” (RFE/RL, 27 March 2012)

 

“UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on Monday said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had accepted an April 10 deadline to start implementing a peace plan, as more than 30 people died in new clashes.” (AFP, 2 April 2012)

 

“Syria's government wants ‘written guarantees’ from the opposition before it withdraws its troops from flashpoints in parts of the country. The foreign ministry statement comes two days before a UN-backed deadline for the violence in Syria to cease. […] The BBC's Jim Muir, reporting from neighbouring Lebanon, says Syria wanted guarantees from opposition forces that they would end hostilities, hand over their weapons and allow the state to restore its authority everywhere.” (BBC, 8 April 2012)

“Kofi Anna, the international envoy for Syria, has told the UN Security Council that Syria has not fully complied with the terms of his peace plan, despite observing a cease-fire that went into effect at the start of the day. […]
There were reports of scattered violence across the country. Activists said forces loyal to Assad fired on civilians in several places, killing at least three people. Meanwhile, state media said a roadside bomb in the central city of Aleppo killed one army officer and wounded 24 officers and cadets. Despite the cease-fire, government troops have not pulled back to barracks, as stipulated by Annan's peace plan.” (RFE/RL, 12 April 2012)

 “A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army said the rebels were no longer committed to a UN-backed peace plan that has failed to end violence in the country.” (RFE/RL, 4 June 2012)
“In a separate development, the head of Syria's election committee announced that turnout in last week's parliamentary elections was more than 50%. The committee did not say who had won, but it is clear that the ruling Baath party has secured a substantial majority of the seats, the BBC's Jonathan Head in neighbouring Turkey reports. This was the first election in which the Baath party was not, in theory, guaranteed a majority, our correspondent says. Opposition parties - which boycotted the election - have dismissed the vote as a sham.” (BBC, 15 May 2012)

 

 

MAJOR EVENTS IN UNREST

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“Syrian activists have held daily protests in solidarity with Egyptian demonstrators since January 29.” (HRW, 3 February 2011)

 

“Limited calls in February 2011 to organize protests and gatherings failed but a violent government response to an isolated incident in the southern town of Dara’a in March [6 March] provided a decisive spark for the emergence of protest movements.” (CRS, 28 April 2011, p. 1)

 

“[…] it was the mukhabarat's torture of a group of Daraa school children who had scribbled graffiti criticizing President Bashar al-Assad that originally drove people to the streets.” (HRW, 4 May 2011)

 

“On March 15, some 40 people chanting political slogans marched in Damascus in what was said to be the first public protest against President Bashar al-Assad since popular uprisings began in the Arab world.” (RFE/RL, 16 March 2011)

 

“Some 200 members of Syria's ruling Baath party are reported to have resigned over the violent crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations. The resignations were centred on the southern city of Deraa, a focal point of violence that has allegedly killed 450 people in six weeks. [...] The resignations follow those of 30 Baath officials from the restive coastal city of Baniyas, north-west of Damascus.” (BBC, 28 April 2011)

 

President al-Assad “has made vague promises of reform, while sending troops to crush protest centers one at a time. The latest focus of the military crackdown has been in the northwest of the country, around the town of Jisr al-Shughour where authorities say 120 security personnel were killed earlier this month.” (Reuters, 16 June 2011)

 

“Syrian forces backed by snipers and tanks stormed into the border town of Khirbet al-Jouz on Thursday [23 June], sending hundreds of refugees fleeing to Turkey from the informal camp where they had sought shelter from a violent crackdown on protests in the country’s rural northwest.” (NYT, 23 June 2011)

 

“At least 28 civilians were killed on Friday [15 July], including 16 in the capital Damascus […], as security forces opened fire to quell the largest anti-regime rallies in four months, activists said. More than one million Syrians turned out in just two cities – Hama and Deir Ezzor – to protest against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and demand the release of hundreds of detainees seized in earlier pro-democracy rallies.” (AFP, 15 July 2011)

 

“Syrian security forces tightened their grip on the central city of Homs and its surroundings on Thursday [21 July] […], residents and activists said. […] The military campaign came five days after a wave of sectarian killings in the city that threatened to provoke wider sectarian conflict across the country.” (NYT, 21 July 2011)

 

“Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people on Sunday [31 July] including 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint protest city of Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan, activists said.” (AFP, 31 July 2011)

 

“The restive central city of Hama was quiet on Wednesday [10 August] after a week-long operation by the Syrian army that killed dozens of opposition activists. [...] In recent days large-scale operations by the Syrian army – notably in Hama and Deir al-Zour in the east – have drawn international condemnation.” (BBC, 10 August 2011)

 

“Since Sunday [14 August], more than 30 civilians have been killed in Latakia in a military offensive during which gunboats went into action for the first time since the start of pro-democracy revolts in mid-March, according to activists.” (AFP, 17 August 2011)

 

“Syrian protesters have taken to the streets in their thousands following Friday prayers [on 9 September], calling for international protection from the security forces. Some called for international observers to be sent in a monitoring role.” (BBC, 9 September 2011)

 

“Dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers stormed towns and villages near Syria's northwest border with Turkey on Wednesday [14 September] [...], local activists said. [...] In the northwest, the assault in Jabal al-Zawiya followed a major sweep this week on al-Ghab Plain, farmland to its south that has seen regular protests and serves as a supply line for army deserters.” (AlertNet, 14 September 2011)

 

“Syrian forces have killed at least twenty seven people in the last three days [since 27 September] in an offensive to recapture the town of Rastan that has come under the control of army deserters, an activist's body said on Thursday.The Local Coordination Committees said two of those killed were deserters and the rest were villagers in the central town, [...]:” (AlertNet, 29 September 2011)

 

“Syrian forces have regained control of the central town of Rastan after days of fighting with defectors who had joined protesters, state media say.” (BBC, 1 October 2011)

 

“Syrian military forces have resumed attacks in the city of Homs, activists say, despite agreeing to withdraw from urban areas under an Arab League deal.” (BBC, 4 November 2011)

 

“Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus, including an intelligence complex on the outskirts of the capital, […]. […] The attack appeared to mark an escalation in armed confrontations between government and opposition forces instead of clashes involving street protesters.” (Guardian, 16 November 2011)

 

“At least two rocket-propelled grenades have hit a ruling Ba'ath party building in Damascus, residents said, in the first insurgent attack reported inside the Syrian capital since the eight-month uprising began against President Bashar al-Assad. [...] The Free Syrian Army [...] claimed responsibility for the attack.” (Guardian, 20 November 2011)

 

“Almost 200 people have died in two days [19 and 20 December] of clashes in Syria, activists say, […]. […] all the activist groups reporting agree that there has been a surge in violence […], with particular concentrations of bloodshed in mountainous parts of Idlib province and the country's third city of Homs.” (BBC, 21 December 2011)

 

“At least 44 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in two suicide car bombings in the heart of Syria's capital, Damascus, officials say. State TV said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted two security service bases in the Kafr Sousa area. But the opposition said the attacks – which came a day after Arab League observers arrived – were staged by the government to justify its crackdown.” (BBC, 23 December 2011)

 

“An estimated 500,000 people are thought to have taken to the streets across the country, with the largest and most defiant protests taking place in areas where Arab League monitors were present. The touring members of the Arab League states could not stop the bloodshed, however, with opposition groups claiming up to 31 people were killed nationwide.” (Guardian, 31 December 2011)

 

 

“[…] a bomb in the capital, Damascus, killed at least 26 civilians and members of the security forces. Opposition groups have accused the government of planting the bomb to discredit their opponents and influence Arab League monitors. […] The Damascus blast happened at a busy junction in the Midan district of Damascus.” (BBC, 7 January 2012)

 

“Syrian forces have pulled back from a rebel-held town near Lebanon […]. President Bashar al-Assad's forces attacked Zabadani on Friday [13 January], after frequent demonstrations against his rule […]. It was the first big military assault since Arab monitors arrived in the country last month. Residents and opposition sources say insurgents managed to hold back the attacking troops until a ceasefire was reached on Tuesday [17 January].” (AlertNet, 19 January 2012)

 

“The Syrian army has regained control of some Damascus suburbs recently held by rebel forces, reports say. […] At least 26 people were reportedly killed this weekend [28 and 29 January] around Damascus in what activists say is the fiercest fighting around the capital during the 10 month-uprising. […] The latest army offensive started on Saturday [28 January] in suburbs where the Free Syrian Army had taken up positions - including Kfar Batna, Saqba, Jisreen, and Arbeen.” (BBC, 30 January 2012)

 

“At least 28 people have been killed and 235 wounded in two bombs targeting security compounds in Syria's second city of Aleppo, state media report. […] The rebel Free Syrian Army said it was operating in the area at the time, but was not responsible for the blasts.” (BBC, 10 February 2012)

   

Baba Amr district in Homs “that became the symbol of the year-long uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad has fallen government forces after a bloody, month-long siege in which hundreds of people are reported to have been killed. Amid reports that government troops were carrying out reprisal killings against civilians trapped in the snow-blanketed Homs neighbourhood, Baba Amr finally fell after Free Syrian Army fighters said they were abandoning their positions”. (Guardian, 2 March 2012)

 

“Idlib is the latest opposition stronghold to come under attack by the Syrian security forces attempting to rout the armed opposition. Syrian activists have compiled a list of 114 civilians killed since the current assault there, which began on March 10, 2012. Five witnesses, including three foreign correspondents, gave separate accounts to Human Rights Watch that government forces used large-caliber machine-guns, tanks, and mortars to fire indiscriminately at buildings and people in the street. After they entered Idlib, government forces detained people in house-to-house searches, looted buildings, and burned down houses, the witnesses said.” (HRW, 15 March 2012)

 

“Syrian activists say a car-bomb explosion in the Syrian city of Aleppo has at least three people and wounded 25. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack was near a security building in the Suleimaniyeh neighborhood. State media also reported a car bomb attack, saying it exploded between two residential buildings. The blast came one day after officials said two vehicles packed with explosives on March 17 blew up near security buildings in Damascus, killing 27 people.” (RFE/RL, 18 March 2012)

 

“Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, according to Syrian activists. […] State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by ‘armed terrorist groups’. […] They [activists] said the blast was caused by government shelling or even a Scud missile attack. The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting ‘so that it can issue a resolution to protect civilians’. It says nearly 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days.” (BBC, 26 April 2012)

 

“Twin blasts targeting security buildings killed more than 20 people in the northwest Syrian city of Idlib, a monitoring group said […].
Most of those killed in Idlib were members of the security forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. […]
State news agency SANA said ‘terrorists’ were behind the attacks by ‘suicide bombers.’ Syrian television put the death toll at nine, among them civilians, and said around 100 people were wounded in the two blasts in residential areas. […]
On Friday [27 April], a suicide car bomb in central Damascus killed 11 people.” (AFP, 30 April 2012)

 

“The UN Security Council has condemned car bomb attacks that killed at least 55 people and wounded almost 400 in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday [10 May]. [...] Syrian officials say "foreign-backed terrorists" carried out a twin suicide car-bomb attack in Damascus. The bombs exploded near a military intelligence building during the morning rush hour.” (BBC, 11 May 2012)

 

“The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that Islamist militants from al-Qaeda must be behind two deadly suicide car bomb attacks in Syria last week.” (BBC, 18 May 2012)

 

“Kofi Annan should push Syria’s government to allow the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry access into the country to investigate the May 25, 2012, killing of at least 108 Houla residents, Human Rights Watch said today ahead of an impending visit by the UN envoy to Damascus. [...]
[...] Houla, a region made up of several villages about 20 kilometers northwest of the restive city of Homs [...].
According to survivors that Human Rights Watch interviewed and local activists, the Syrian army shelled the area on May 25, and armed men, dressed in military clothes, attacked homes on the outskirts of town and executed entire families. All of the witnesses stated the armed men were pro-government, but they did not know whether they were members of the Syrian army or a pro-government militia, locally referred to as shabeeha.” (HRW, 28 May 2012)

 

"The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group, said nearly 170 people had been killed across Syria on Thursday [21 June] - making it the deadliest day since April, when a ceasefire was due to come into force under an international peace plan. [...] More than 20 people were reported killed in the suburbs of Damascus. A similar number of deaths was also reported in Homs, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been unable to bring aid and medical supplies into the old city and take trapped civilians out." (BBC, 21 June 2012)

 

“A bomb has exploded on the third floor of the Syrian state TV and radio building in the capital, Damascus, Syrian television reports. Three people were reported wounded and the explosion caused some damage but state TV continued broadcasting. [...]

The developments come as Syria's army tries to recapture the city of Aleppo. Rebel forces took over several areas of Damascus in recent weeks, but the army has since regained control of the capital.” (BBC, 6 August 2012)

 

“Then, on 18 July, as intense fighting broke out in various parts of Damascus, at least four senior officials were killed in what appeared to be an opposition attack – Daoud Rajha, the defence minister; Asef Shawkat, the deputy defence minister and Bashar’s brother-in-law; Hassan Turkmani, the assistant vice president; and Hisham Ikhtiar, the head of the national security bureau (a coordination structure devoid of any independent operational capability).” (ICG, 1 August 2012, p. 1)

 

“The Syrian city of Aleppo has come under fresh bombardment, activists say, as the government attempts to retake districts seized by rebel fighters. Several areas of the city were reported to have come under attack, including strafing from helicopter gunships. The rebels say they have completely withdrawn from the embattled Salah al-Din district "in a tactical move". [...]

On Wednesday [8 August], Syria's state military launched a large operation to retake Aleppo from the rebel fighters, who overran some districts three weeks ago.” (BBC, 9 August 2012)

 

 

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

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“The level and gravity of the human rights violations committed in Syria in 2011 signalled not just a dramatic deterioration in the human rights situation, but also amounted to crimes against humanity. The abuses were part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians, carried out deliberately as state policy and in an organized manner.” (AI, 9 January 2012, p. 31)

 

“The sharp rise in the number of reported deaths in custody has been one of the most shocking features of the government’s bloody crackdown on the protests. No less than 88 such deaths have been reported to Amnesty International as occurring during the period from 1 April and 15 August 2011 […].”(AI, 31 August 2011, p. 4)

 

“At least 190 people, including children, died in custody.” (AI, 9 January 2012, p. 30)

 

“Syrian security forces forcibly removed 18 wounded people from al-Barr hospital in the central city of Homs on September 7, 2011, including five from the operating room, Human Rights Watch said today, based on reports from witnesses, including doctors. Security forces also prevented medical personnel from reaching the wounded in a number of the city’s neighborhoods on that day.” (HRW, 8 September 2011)

 

“People wounded in protests or other incidents related to the uprising have been verbally abused and physically assaulted in state-run hospitals, including by medical staff, and in some cases denied medical care […], and many of those taken to hospital have been detained. […] a number of health professionals have been detained, and in some cases tortured, for seeking to protect patients in their care. […] Wounded patients perceived as government opponents have been verbally and physically assaulted […] in at least four government-run hospitals […].” (AI, 25 October 2011, pp. 4-5, 7)

 

An activist network said “attending physicians are required to immediately notify security services of the arrival of a wounded person, regardless of the severity of his injuries, which invariably leads to the patient's arrest”. (AFP, 17 October 2011)

 

“Many Syrians abroad have been vocally expressing their solidarity with the mass pro-reform protests which have rocked Syria since March and to which the Syrian authorities have responded in a manner that Amnesty International has characterized as amounting to crimes against humanity. In so doing, they have found themselves systematically monitored and harassed by embassy officials and others believed to be acting on behalf of the Syrian regime and learnt that relatives in Syria have been exposed to intimidation and worse, apparently as a result.” (AI, 3 October 2011, p. 5)

 

For further information on human rights violations in 2011, please refer to AI's Annual Report 2012 and the US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011: AI, 24 May 2012; USDOS, 24 May 2012

 

“Syrian army and security officers have detained and tortured children with impunity during the past year, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under inhumane conditions and tortured, as well as children shot while in their homes or on the street. Human Rights Watch has also documented government use of schools as detention centers, military bases or barracks, and sniper posts, as well as the arrest of children from schools.” (HRW, 3 February 2012)

 

“Syrian forces have placed landmines near the borders with Lebanon and Turkey in recent weeks and months, Human Rights Watch said today, based on reports and confirmations from witnesses and Syrian deminers. Civilian casualties have already resulted, the witnesses said.” (HRW, 13 March 2012)

 

“Syrian government forces have endangered local residents by forcing them to march in front of the army during recent arrest operations, troop movements, and attacks on towns and villages in northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today.” (HRW, 25 March 2012)

 

“Syrian security forces have summarily executed scores, and possibly hundreds, of civilians and opposition fighters during their intensified offensive on cities and towns since December 2011. This report is based on more than 30 interviews with witnesses to executions whom Human Rights Watch interviewed in person or over the phone. It documents the involvement of Syrian forces and pro-government shabeeha militias in summary and extrajudicial executions of defecting soldiers, opposition fighters, and opposition supporters, as well as civilians who appeared to have had no part in the confrontation with the authorities other than being residents of opposition strongholds. […]
The exact number of victims of summary and extrajudicial executions is impossible to verify given the difficulties of accessing and evaluating the information from Syria. In this report, Human Rights Watch has documented 12 cases of executions in Idlib and Homs governorates, some involving scores of victims. […]
In cases documented by Human Rights Watch, at least 85 victims were described by witnesses as residents who did not take part in the fighting, including women and children. […]
Human Rights Watch also documented the execution of at least 16 opposition fighters whom the Syrian security forces shot at point blank range after they had been captured or wounded, raising concerns that the army had adopted a policy, official or unofficial, of executing opposition fighters.” (HRW, April 2012, pp. 1-2)

 

“As United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan was negotiating with the Syrian government to end the fighting in Syria in late March 2012, government forces launched a series of largescale attacks against opposition-controlled towns in the Idlib governorate east and north of Idlib city.
This report documents government forces’ attacks on the towns of Sarmeen, Saraqeb, Taftanaz, Hazano, Kelly, and half a dozen smaller villages in this area between March 22 and April 6, 2012. In the course of these attacks, security forces and pro-government militias killed at least 95 civilians, burned, destroyed, and looted hundreds of houses and stores, and arbitrarily detained dozens of people in these towns. At least 35 of the killed civilians were summarily executed.” (HRW, May 2012, p. 2)

 

Further information on human rights violations committed by government forces in the Idlib and Aleppo governorates between late February and late May 2012 is provided by an AI report dated June 2012 and accessible via the following link: AI, 14 June 2012