RT @ahmed56: Link to the full text of Human Rights Watch report on #Syria: “We Live as in War”j.mp/uXNZzl (PDF)
Since the beginning of anti-government protests in March 2011, Syrian security forces have
killed more than 3,100 protesters and bystanders in their violent efforts to stop the
protests. They have maimed and injured many more and arbitrarily arrested thousands
across the country, subjecting many of them to torture in detention. Local activists have
reported more than 105 deaths in custody.
This report focuses on violations by Syrian security forces in the central governorate of
Homs from mid-April to end of August 2011, where during that time security forces killed at
least 587 civilians, the highest number of casualties for any single governorate, according
to lists compiled by local activists. Most of these killings took place in Homs city, the
capital of the governorate, and in the towns of Tal Kalakh, Rastan, and Talbiseh. At the
time of writing, the crackdown on Homs had intensified with the killing of 207 civilians in
the month of September alone, the bloodiest month to date. Human Rights Watch’s June 1
report “We’ve Never Seen Such Horror” documented abuses by Syrian security forces in
the Daraa governorate, where the protest movement first erupted.
Obtaining accurate information about events in Syria is challenging as the authorities put
enormous efforts into preventing the truth from getting out. This report is based on
interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch staff with more than 114 residents of Homs
as well as a review of 29 interviews videotaped by Syrian activists. The government has
refused Human Rights Watch access to Syria, so we conducted interviews with residents
who had escaped to neighboring countries and over the Internet with witnesses inside
Syria. Human Rights Watch also reviewed dozens of videos, filmed by witnesses, which
corroborate their accounts. Additional information was provided by Syrian activists who
have documented the events. To ensure the reliability of the cases reported, this report
only includes events corroborated by multiple sources.
Human Rights Watch believes that the nature and scale of abuses committed by the Syrian
security forces across the country indicate that crimes against humanity may have been
committed. The similarities in the cases of apparent unlawful killings, including evidence
of security forces shooting at protestors without warning in repeated instances, arbitrary
detention, disappearances, and torture, indicate the existence of a widespread and
systematic attack against the civilian population which has the backing of the state.
