War crimes in the Syrian civil war

The casualties of the Syrian Civil War have been great; UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura stated in April 2016 that 400,000 people had died in the conflict.^[3] In December 2016, 450,000 Syrians were estimated to have been killed; 4.8 million Syrians fled Syria (becoming refugees), 6.3 million were internally displaced within Syria, and 13.5 million required humanitarian assistance.^[4] The war has been marked by "devastation and extreme suffering among civilians"^[4] and international aid groups "have long denounced the indiscriminate brutality" that has characterized the conflict.^[5] In March 2017, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 465,000 people had died in the conflict, of which 96,000 civilians, and an additional 145,000 civilians were missing.^[6][7] The SOHR attributed 83,500 civilian deaths to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its allies, including Russia; 7,000 to Syrian rebels and allied forces; 3,700 to Islamic State (IS) organization; 920 to the U.S.-led coalition; and 500 to Turkey.^[6][7]


According to various human rights organizations and the United Nations, human rights violations have been committed by both the government and the rebels,^[8] with the "vast majority of the abuses having been committed by the Syrian government".^{[9][10][11][12]} The U.N. commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria confirms at least nine intentional mass killings in the period 2012 to mid-July 2013, identifying the perpetrator as the Syrian government and its supporters in eight cases, and the opposition in one.^[13][14] The United Nations has since conducted several further studies. The Assad regime has used chemical weapons (chlorine gas) against civilians and conducted torture and extrajudicial killings. Assad has also used "Indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombardment and shelling" which "led to mass civilian casualties and spread terror."^[1] Brutal repression, human rights abuses, war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Assad regime throughout the course of the conflict has led to international condemnation and widespread calls to convict Bashar al-Assad in the International Criminal Court (ICC).^[a]


War crimes committed by rebel groups include recruiting child soldiers, shelling civilian-populated areas, kidnapping, and murdering members of religious minorities.^[8] In May 2013, UN commission of inquiry investigator Carla Del Ponte said there were "strong concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof" that rebels had used the nerve agent sarin.^[20] The following day, in an apparent reaction to Del Ponte's comments, the commission issued a press release clarifying that it "has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties in the conflict".^[20]


Civilian casualties from airstrikes by the US-led coalition fighting IS are considerable; the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported 2,286 civilian deaths since the beginning of the campaign until September 2017, raising concerns that the coalition failed to take necessary precautions to minimize civilian casualties. Unlawful attacks against civilians and civilian structures in Syria have also been made by the Syrian-Russian coalition forces and other parties, in particular the Russian–Syrian hospital bombing campaign, as well as attacks on schools and mosques.^[21] According to Amnesty International's 2017/8 report on Syria, "Parties to the armed conflict committed war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses with impunity."^[22]

Effect on children[edit]

A report from UNICEF estimates that over 5 million children are in need in Syria,^[23] and due to the spillover effect, 2.5 million more children are in need in neighbouring countries like Jordan and Iraq.^[24] From 2014 through 2019, 5,427 children were killed, averaging out to one child death every 10 hours.^[25] 60% of child deaths were due to murders and injuries,  with the effect of the use of explosives close behind.^[26] The WHO reported that the war has resulted in nearly three-quarters of hospitals in Syria were unable to function and are now being used as military bases.^[27] The long-term conflict has also resulted in 60.5% of Syrian students developing one of the following mental health conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder (35.1%), depression (32.0%), and anxiety (29.5%).^[28] From January 2019 to June 2019, there were 74 attacks on schools in Syria, resulting in over 2 million children being out of school.^[29] With limited resources due to the war, 83% of people live in poverty,^[30] which has resulted in 49% of children from ages 10 to 16 working.^[31][32] In May 2020, following nine years of gruesome war and coronavirus pandemic, inflation in Syria rose to an all-time high since April 2011. The situation resulted in doubling of food prices in just over six months and "children going to bed hungry," Imran Riza, a UN's top official based in Damascus informed.^[33]