678 people killed, injured in Syria in June

Introduction:

Syria, in June, witnessed a 19 percent increase in the number of victims of violations, with civilian attacks rising by 29 percent. Escalation between conflicting parties rose by 90 percent, while Islamic State (ISIS) activity increased by 45 percent, according to data analysis from North Press.

The monthly report from the Monitoring and Documentation Department at North Press highlights the most significant human rights violations documented in June. It includes statistics on arbitrary killings and arrests by parties to the conflict, and the number of people who were killed due to the war’s aftermath.

This includes explosive remnants of war deliberately planted in areas controlled by some parties to protect themselves from hostile attacks but resulting in dozens of civilian casualties every month.

The report also covers indiscriminate shelling by controlling forces in different areas, its consequences and damages to civilians and public property, as well as ISIS activity and other issues that affect the rights of Syrians, causing insecurity and instability throughout the month.

Victims of violations

The Monitoring and Documentation Department in June recorded the killing and injury of 678 individuals, including civilians and military personnel. 272 people were killed, and 406 were injured. They were either directly targeted or killed due to unlawful indiscriminate shelling or incidents of torture, abuse, and other forms of inhumane treatment.

All civilians were killed outside the scope of the law by the conflicting parties or unknown armed individuals, due to the security chaos and the multiplicity of controlling forces in the country.

The victims were distributed as follows:

The number of civilian victims reached 450, 142 were killed, including 24 children and 16 women, and 308 were injured, including 24 children and 25 women.

The highest rate of civilian victims was distributed as follows: the city of Aleppo and its countryside had the highest number of victims, with 147 individuals, followed by Idlib, 118, Deir ez-Zor, 46, Daraa, 34 and Hama 18.

As for the military casualties of the four conflicting forces in Syria, 130 were killed, and 89 others were wounded, including 60 dead and 51 injured within the ranks of the Syrian government forces.

Seven deaths and 10 injuries were recorded among Turkish-backed opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA). As for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), 29 deaths and the injury of 10 others were recorded in addition to the death of 17 and injury of 13 non-Syrian militants

Meanwhile, 17 fighters of the SDF were killed and 12 others were injured.

The number of victims of war remnants has decreased by about 14 percent compared to May. Unexploded ordinances left behind 36 victims, of whom five children, two men, and 10 military personnel were killed, as well as nine children, three women, three men, and four military personnel were wounded.

As for bombardment, de-escalation zones across the country witnessed a military escalation through shelling and continuous clashes between government forces, HTS, and SNA factions.

96 positions in government-held areas were attacked, where HTS carried out 102 strikes against 83 positions; Israel carried out three strikes on one position, and SNA factions conducted 20 strikes in 10 positions. During these attacks, 16 individuals were killed, and 26 were wounded.

215 positions in HTS-held areas were shelled, where government forces conducted 563 strikes on 190 sites, and 60 strikes by Russia in 25 positions. In these strikes, 46 individuals were killed, and 90 were injured.

As for SNA factions, 13 strikes targeted 5 of their positions, two of which the perpetrator was not identified. One position was attacked by the government forces and two by Russia. Five civilians, including two women and one child, were killed in these attacks.

On the other hand, Turkish forces attacked 64 positions in north Syria with 131 strikes, of which 15 were conducted by drones. The attacks caused the death and injury of 56 individuals, of which 19 were civilians, including four women and two children, in addition to 16 SDF fighters, 17 soldier of the government forces, and four Russian soldiers.

As for arrests and enforced disappearances, 285 people were arrested across Syria by all parties to the conflict.

The arbitrary arrests that occurred in the HTS areas reached 40 percent of the total number, where 116 people were arrested, including 21 children, 17 of whom were arrested while attempting to cross into government-held areas to do middle and high school exams, in addition to eight women and one activist.

The Syrian government arrested 21 people, including a woman and two children, under various charges. Most of the detainees were taken to unknown destinations without knowing their charges. Iranian-backed militias arrested one person, whereas the SNA factions arrested 57 individuals, including four women. Some of the individuals were forcibly deported from Turkey and others were arrested under charges of working with the Autonomous Administration previously.

The Turkish forces represented by the intelligence and the Turkish border guards arrested 66 people, of which 22 people were arrested since 21 of them were handed over by the Turkish-backed SNA factions as they were transferred to Turkish territory illegally.

Forty-four people, including six women, were arrested by the Turkish border guards while trying to cross the Syrian-Turkish border. They were later handed over to the opposition factions, and 24 people were arrested in the AANES-held areas, 10 of whom were accused of belonging to ISIS.

ISIS activities

Compared to May, ISIS activity in June recorded an increase by about 45 percent, with 16 attacks, of which ISIS only claimed responsibility for ten. The group carried out seven attacks against the SDF, two against government forces, one against Iranian-backed militias, and six against civilians.

ISIS attacks were recorded in different places: eight in Deir ez-Zor, three in Hasakah, two each in Raqqa and Homs, and one in Hama.

The number of victims of ISIS attacks across Syria reached 38, of whom 27 died and 11 were wounded, either in direct attacks or landmine explosions.

In detail, the number of victims of ISIS attacks reached 32, of whom 24 were killed, and eight were injured. Remnants of war planted by ISIS killed three people and wounded three others.

As a result of ISIS attacks, nine civilians were killed, and three others were wounded. The military victims resulting from the ISIS attacks included 12 dead and six wounded from the SDF fighters, a soldier of the government forces was killed and two others were wounded, while five Iranian-backed militiamen were also killed.

Four security campaigns were launched against ISIS by the SDF, two of which were conducted with the US-led Global Coalition, in which ten ISIS suspects were arrested.

Violations of SNA and Turkish army in Syria

In June, the Turkish-backed SNA killed seven military personnel and injured 73 others, including two women and ten military personnel. They carried out two cases of appropriation of civilian property in Tel Abyad and Aleppo northern countryside, and four cases of theft, as well as nine cases of imposing royalties on people living in areas under their control.

In addition, the SNA factions continue their cultural and environmental violations in Afrin by logging trees and excavating archeological sites. The Documentation Department recorded in June the logging of 775 fruit and forest trees, most of them in Afrin.

The Turkish army keeps violating human rights and international humanitarian law in Syria through indiscriminate shelling against regions of northeast Syria and direct targeting of asylum seekers. The Turkish army killed and injured 131 people, including 11 women and 11 children.

Turkish border guards continue to commit violations against asylum seekers who try to cross the Syrian-Turkish border. They killed two men and wounded 15 others, including two children and two women, and 58 other people, including seven children and five women, were wounded after being beaten and assaulted by them.

Meanwhile, the Turkish illegal shelling killed 29 people and wounded 27 others, according to the department.

International and regional actions on Syria

In June, several political and human right reports, statements and resolutions were issued regarding Syria. Several United Nations and international meetings and changes in attitudes and decisions have also taken place concerning Syria.

After 12 years of war in Syria, leaving hundreds of thousands victims and missing, the UN General Assembly adopted on June 29 a draft resolution to establish a first-of-its-kind institution that will work to reveal the fate of an estimated 100,000 people missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 83 in favor to 11 against, with 62 abstentions.

On June 14 and 15, the European Union (EU) organized the 7th Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region,” the first day was the Day of Dialogue, it brought together civil society from Syria and beyond, decision makers, and operational partners to engage in dialogue on Syria and the region as well as on its humanitarian and resilience challenges. The primary objective of the Brussels Conferences was to provide ongoing assistance to the Syrian people, whether they are in Syria or have fled the country, by rallying the international community to support a comprehensive and reliable political resolution to the Syria conflict, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2254.

On June 20 and 21, the 20^th round of Astana Talks kicked off in the Kazakh capital with the participation of representatives of Russia, Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government, and the opposition, as well as, the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, with Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan as “observer countries.” In the final statement of the conference, the participants displayed the condition in the de-escalation zone in Idlib and agreed to exert more efforts to guarantee durable stabilization for the situation including the humanitarian field. The statement also highlighted the issue of the quadripartite meeting between deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Turkey, and Iran, through which a roadmap to recover relations between Syria and Turkey was drafted. In regard to areas in northeastern Syria, the statement noted that it was agreed that fulfilling durable security and stability in this region cannot be reached but through preserving Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Humanitarian Situation

On June 13, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that it would cut food and cash-for-food assistance for nearly half of the 5.5 million people it supports in Syria from July due to the fast-depleting funds.

On June 29, the US Department of State outlined its strategy to combat the captagon trade in Syria and surrounding countries. The new strategy’s goal is to disrupt, degrade, and dismantle the illicit captagon networks linked to the al-Assad regime through four lines of effort, including diplomatic and intelligence support for law enforcement, sanctions, counter-narcotics assistance and training to neighboring countries, and exerting pressure on Damascus through diplomatic means.