Search Results

Sort by
News

Thousands of Foreigners Unlawfully Held in NE Syria

Countries should bring Citizens Home; Ensure Due Process for ISIS Suspects

Nearly 43,000 foreign men, women, and children linked to ISIS remain detained in inhuman or degrading conditions by regional authorities in northeast Syria, two years after they were rounded up during the fall of the Islamic State “caliphate,” often…
A boy flies a home-made kite in the foreigners’ section of al-Hol camp in northeast Syria on March 15, 2021.
News

Syria: Bread Crisis Exposes Government Failure

Bakeries Destroyed; Discriminatory Policies Exacerbate Wheat Shortage

(Beirut) – The Syrian government’s failure to fairly and adequately address a bread crisis brought on by a decade of armed conflict is forcing millions of Syrians to go hungry, Human Rights Watch said today. A deepening economic crisis, coupled…
Syrian authorities distribute food to residents in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria, April 16, 2018.
News

Bittersweet Homecoming for Canadian Girl Rescued from Syria

All Countries Should Urgently Repatriate Citizens

On the surface, it seems like a happy ending: a 4-year-old Canadian girl is flown home to Canada on Sunday after living the first half of her life under the Islamic State (ISIS) and the second in a squalid detention camp in northeast Syria. But her…
A 4-year-old Canadian girl after her rescue from a detention camp
News

German Court to Issue First Verdict in Syria Torture Trial

Limited Community Outreach Blunts Impact of Accountability Efforts

A German court in the town of Koblenz this week will render its first verdict in a historic trial of two former Syrian officials for atrocities during Syria’s decade-long brutal armed conflict. The two accused in the case are an alleged former…
Photos of Syrians who have been detained or disappeared set up by Families for Freedom, as part of a protest in front of the court in Koblenz, July 2, 2020. 
News

Saving Civilian Lives in Syria

When history reflects on the Syrian conflict, a defining hallmark will be the Syrian government’s deliberate targeting of civilians. Backed by Russian forces, the government has rained bombs on markets, hospitals, schools, and homes. In 2019 and 2020,…
201905mena_syria_idlib
News

Syrian ‘Military Evaders’ Face Unlawful Seizure of Property, Assets

Floundering Government Finds New Ways to Confiscate Wealth of Syrian Citizens

On February 2, Syria’s Ministry for Media and Information posted a video in which Colonel Elias al-Bitar, head of the army’s Exemptions and Reserves Branch, informed the country of an amendment that allows authorities to seize the property of “…
A Syrian flag flies in the city of Maarat al-Numan, near Idlib, Syria, February 12, 2020.
News

Illegal Transfers of Syrians to Turkey

Over 60 Detained, Forcibly Moved from Occupied Territories

(Beirut) – Turkey and the Syrian National Army have arrested and illegally transferred at least 63 Syrian nationals from northeast Syria to Turkey to face trial on serious charges that could lead to life in prison, Human Rights Watch said today.…
Fighters of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (also called the Syrian National Army) enter the town of Tal Abyad.
News

Syria: Covid-19 Vaccine Access Should Be Expanded, Fair

Lack of Access, Damaged Infrastructure, Bias Pose Rollout Risk

(Beirut) – International aid groups should have support to secure the widest and most equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines possible across Syria, including all areas controlled by different groups, Human Rights Watch said today. Although the…
A medic checks the temperature of a man inside a health isolation centre which has been established on the Syrian-Turkish borders in order to place people coming from Turkey to Idlib as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19.
Video

Lebanon: Harsh Winters for Syrian Refugees in Arsal

Syrian refugees in Arsal, a Lebanese town on the border with Syria, do not have adequate shelters to withstand the harsh winter months. More than 15,000 Syrian refugees in Arsal are experiencing their second winter since a 2019 order from the Higher…
News

Why Are Russians Paying for Bombing Schools in Syria?

The Russian military marked the fifth anniversary of its intervention in the armed conflict in Syria on September 30. The consequences have been devastating for many Syrian civilians, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions more forced to flee…
Woman and child in rubble in Idlib
News

“The lack of action is unexplainable. Protection during armed conflicts and access to essential necessities is our right, not a favor that we are asking for.”

Remarks by Nujeen Mustafa at “A Year after UNSC Resolution 2475: Let’s Define Concrete Steps to Protect People with Disabilities in Armed Conflict" on December 3, 2020

Good morning and good afternoon everyone, My name is Nujeen Mustafa. I was born with cerebral palsy and I use a wheelchair. In 2015, I fled the war from Syria to Germany. Today, I am an advocate for the rights of refugees and people with…
News

UN: Implement Human Rights Principles for Assistance in Syria

Existing Framework can Strengthen Rights Protections if Operationalized

(Beirut) – United Nations agencies should activate the UN’s human rights framework for Syria in their aid plans, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the agencies that developed the principles. Major donors should support this effort at their…
201906mena_syria_back
Report

“They Burn Through Everything”

Summary Over the past decade, the use of incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus, in Afghanistan, Gaza, Syria, and elsewhere has generated serious concerns for dozens of states parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). Many of…
News

Incendiary Weapons: Human Cost Demands Stronger Law

Close Legal Loopholes to Prevent Further Civilian Suffering

(Geneva) – The horrific burns and life-long suffering caused by incendiary weapons demand that governments urgently revise existing treaty standards, Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic said in a report…
اوربلونکې وسله چې د ۲۰۱۶ کال د جون پر ۲۲مه د سوريې د حلب ښار پر کفر همراه کلي لګېدلې ده.
News

Dozens of Prisoners Released in Syria

A Positive Step, but Thousands Still Held Incommunicado

On November 4, local news outlets reported that the Syrian government had released over 60 individuals from detention facilities in southern Syria and Damascus. While not the first such release, the news is a positive development in an area where…
A checkpoint in the Syrian city of Daraa.
Report

"Targeting Life in Idlib"

Summary In April 2019, the Syrian government and its ally, Russia, launched a major military offensive to retake Idlib governorate and surrounding areas in northwest Syria— one of the last areas controlled by anti-government armed groups. Over the…
News

Witness: The Sound of Death

Attacks on Civilians in Idlib, Syria

On a hot morning in late May in the town of Ariha, in the northwest Syrian governorate of Idlib, Fadel Faham’s elderly mother woke him up at around 9:30 in the morning and asked him to go to their family’s café. He put on a light T-shirt to keep cool in…
On May 27 a large munition struck a residential area in the town of Ariha, across from the Banat Ariha school, killing at least 13 civilians and wounding at least 21, including four members of Fadel Faham’s.
News

Syria/Russia: Strategy Targeted Civilian Infrastructure

Unlawful Attacks on Hospitals, Schools, Markets Forced Idlib Population Out

The Syrian and Russian armed forces’ repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure in Idlib in northwest Syria were apparent war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Dozens of unlawful air…
A woman in a black niqab and face mask walks through a deserted street with a child
Video

Syria/Russia: Strategy Targeted Civilian Infrastructure

(Geneva, October 15, 2020) – The Syrian and Russian armed forces’ repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure in Idlib in northwest Syria were apparent war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released…
News

Australians Trapped in Syria Need Government's Help

Earlier this month, the US government announced it had "brought back every American supporter of ISIS known to be held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against whom we have charges" from northeast Syria. The US is calling on "responsible…
A girl walks through a tented area at Roj camp.