SNHR: Russia kills 6,239 civilians, including 1,804 children in Syria

The report published on Sunday (Sep. 30) documents the most notable violations by Russian forces since the start of their military intervention in Syria on September 30, 2015, and the violations that followed, including killing, destruction, and forced displacement.

“Russia has to fully realize that it has invested in a rotten and failed regime that can’t be rehabilitated or legitimized. With every day that investment goes on, it leads to greater failure and loss,” SNHR chairman said.

The report highlights the double-strike tactic which Russian forces used in 21 massacres, in addition to the attacks that targeted medical facilities after receiving injuries from previous attacks, attacks on camps, which were approximately 14 attacks, the attacks that targeted the routes taken by IDPs civilians, and the retaliatory attacks that follow Russian material losses.

The report documents that 6,239 civilians have been killed at the hands of Russian forces, including 1,804 children, between the start of their military intervention in Syria and September 30, 2018. The report breaks down the death toll by year, as the first two years saw most of those deaths. On the other hand, Aleppo, Idlib, and Deir-ez-Zor governorates recorded the majority of those deaths.

In addition, the report documents no less than 321 massacres perpetrated by Russian forces and 954 attacks on vital civilian facilities, including 176 attacks on schools, 166 attacks on medical facilities, and 55 attacks on markets between the start of the Russian military intervention in Syria and September 30, 2018.

The report adds that Russian forces killed 92 medical and civil defense personnel, in addition to 19 media workers.

Further, the report notes that Russian forces have used cluster munitions in no less than 232 attacks and ammunitions in 125 attacks since the start of their intervention.

The intensified violence by Russian forces has had the largest impact in terms of forced displacement, as Russian attacks, in parallel with the attacks carried out by the Assad-Iranian regimes, have resulted in the displacement of approximately 2.7 million people.

 The report calls on the Security Council to take additional steps after Resolution 2139 has been adopted, refer the Syrian file to the International Criminal Court, and hold all those who were involved accountable.