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Press Release

Syria: Nowhere to hide for civilians killed by reported Russian air strike in Arbin

Responding to reports that an alleged Russian air strike using an incendiary weapon burned to death 37 civilians – mainly women and children – hiding in an air-raid shelter in the Syrian town of Arbin on Friday, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Senior Advisor Rawya Rageh said the following.

March 23, 2018

A picture taken on February 20, 2018 shows smoke plumes rising following a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. / AFP PHOTO / ABDULMONAM EASSA (Photo credit should read ABDULMONAM EASSA/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

SYRIA: Seven years of catastrophic failure by the international community

To mark the seventh anniversary of the Syria conflict, Amnesty International is calling for the international community to assume its responsibilities and urgently act to end the suffering of millions of Syrians and bring an end to the bloody assault on besieged civilians in Eastern Ghouta and Afrin. “The international community’s catastrophic failure to take concrete action to protect the people of Syria has allowed parties to the conflict, most notably the Syrian government, to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity with complete impunity, often with assistance of outside powers, particularly Russia. Every year we think it is just…

March 15, 2018

Press Release

Syria: Hundreds of civilian lives at risk as Afrin offensive escalates

Turkish military, and to a lesser extent Kurdish forces, are carrying out indiscriminate attacks in the embattled Syrian towns of Afrin and Azaz respectively in northern Aleppo, killing scores of civilians, according to eyewitness testimonies obtained and verified by Amnesty International.

February 27, 2018

Press Release

Syria: Alleged chemical weapons pact with North Korea would represent ‘a betrayal of humanity’

Reacting to a New York Times article alleging that an unpublished United Nations report reveals that from 2012 to 2017 North Korea secretly shipped supplies to Syria that could be used to produce internationally banned chemical weapons, Lynn Malouf, Director of Research for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said:

February 27, 2018

A picture taken on February 20, 2018 shows smoke plumes rising following a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. / AFP PHOTO / ABDULMONAM EASSA (Photo credit should read ABDULMONAM EASSA/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

SYRIA: Security Council must ensure civilians in Eastern Ghouta get immediate humanitarian assistance

Responding to the news that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) finally voted today on a much-delayed resolution calling for humanitarian aid into Eastern Ghouta and a partial ceasefire, Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office said: “It shouldn’t require a Security Council resolution or a ceasefire for starving civilians to be allowed life-saving assistance and protection from being deliberately bombarded. These are the requirements of international humanitarian law. But now that the resolution has finally passed, the Security Council must follow through and ensure that attacks on civilians are ended and unfettered access to humanitarian assistance is provided without delay.…

February 24, 2018

Press Release

Syria: Relentless bombing of civilians in Eastern Ghouta amounts to war crimes

Responding to the news of the escalating bombing campaign by the Syrian government and its ally Russia in Eastern Ghouta in Damascus Countryside which has left scores dead and hundreds injured in the past month, Amnesty International’s Diana Semaan, Syria researcher, said:

February 20, 2018

TOPSHOT - Syrians reportedly suffering from breathing difficulties following Syrian regime air strikes on the northwestern town of Saraqeb rest around a stove at a field hospital in a village on the outskirts of Saraqeb, due to the lack of hospitals in the town, on February 4, 2018. Five people were treated for "suffocation" after Syrian regime air strikes on the northwestern town of Saraqeb, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, adding that 10 civilians were killed in southern Idlib province. / AFP PHOTO / OMAR HAJ KADOUR (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Syria: Witness testimony reveals details of illegal chemical attack on Saraqeb

The Syrian government’s use of internationally banned chemical weapons was laid bare once again on February 4 when a chlorine gas attack on the town of Saraqeb left 11 people in need of emergency treatment, according to testimony gathered by Amnesty International.

February 6, 2018

A general view shows damaged buildings in the Qastal al-Harami neighborhood of Aleppo's Old City on December 9, 2016. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation on November 15. / AFP / George OURFALIAN (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Syria: Banned Soviet-made cluster munitions fuel humanitarian catastrophe in Eastern Ghouta

Syrian government forces’ increasing use of banned Soviet-made cluster munitions to carry out indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians amid a tightening siege in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta has killed at least 10 civilians and brought the area’s humanitarian crisis to breaking point, Amnesty International can reveal today.

November 29, 2017

Syrians, who were injured in a suicide car bombing that targeted buses carrying evacuees from besieged government-held towns, sit in a tent on the Syrian-Turkish border in Idlib province on April 17, 2017. April 16's blast hit a convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fuaa and Kafraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo. At least 68 children were among the 126 people killed in the attack, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. / AFP PHOTO / Omar haj kadour (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheet of paper Report

“We leave or we die”: Forced displacement under Syria’s ‘reconciliation’ agreements

Whole civilian populations who have suffered horrific sieges and been subjected to intensive bombardments have been given no choice but to leave or die under so-called “reconciliation” agreements between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups, said Amnesty International in a comprehensive new report published today.

November 12, 2017

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, looks at smoke rising in the al-Meshleb neighbourhood of Raqa as they try to advance further into the Islamic State (IS) group's Syrian bastion, on June 7, 2017 two days after finally entering the northern city. The SDF alliance began the battle for the city earlier this week after seven months of fighting to surround the key jihadist stronghold. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheet of paper Report

Syria: ‘Deadly labyrinth’ traps civilians trying to flee Raqqa battle against Islamic State

Thousands of civilians trapped in Raqqa, northern Syria, are coming under fire from all sides as the battle for control of the city enters its final stage, Amnesty International said following an in-depth investigation on the ground. The warring parties must prioritize protecting them from hostilities and creating safe ways for them to flee the frontline.

August 23, 2017

Military Intelligence detained Bassel Khartabil on 15 March 2012 and he has remained in detention since. He was initially held incommunicado in the Military Intelligence Detention facility in Kafr Sousseh for eight months and later in the military jail in Saydnaya, where prison personnel tortured him for three weeks, he later told his family. Officials provided Bassel Khartabil’s family with no information about where or why he was in custody until 24 December 2012, when authorities moved him to ‘Adra central prison, where Khartabil was eventually allowed visits from his family. A Syrian of Palestinian parents, Khartabil is a 34-year old computer engineer who worked to build a career in software and web development. Before his arrest, he used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech and access to information via the Internet. Among other projects, he founded Creative Commons Syria, a nonprofit organization that enables people to share artistic and other work using free legal tools.

Press Release

Syria: Extrajudicial execution of Bassel Khartabil a grim reminder of Syrian prison horrors

Responding to news of the execution of Syrian-Palestinian human rights activist Bassel Khartabil today, Anna Neistat, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research said:

August 2, 2017

Syrian residents leave Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood after pro-government forces captured the area in the eastern part of the war torn city on December 13, 2016. After weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces were poised to take full control of Aleppo, dealing the biggest blow to Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war. Getty / AFP / George Ourfalian

Press Release

G20 summit: Trump-Putin meeting, a matter of life and death for the people of Syria

The lives of millions of Syrian civilians hang in the balance as the presidents of Russia and the U.S. prepare to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany on July 7, to discuss counter-terrorism initiatives and a political resolution to Syria’s war, said Amnesty International.

July 6, 2017