A protester stands in front a burning Turkish truck during protests against Turkey in al-Bab, in the northern Syrian opposition-held region of Aleppo on July 1, 2024. (Credit: Bakr al-Kassem/AFP)
Fighting in Syria has intensified, plunging residents into the worst humanitarian conditions since the civil war erupted over 13 years ago, according to the latest report from the U.N. Syria Commission of Inquiry released on Tuesday.
“The deep-seated deadly dynamics are once again igniting new waves of hostilities,” Commission chair Paulo Pinheiro said in the press briefing.
The report found that more than 150 civilians were killed or injured, the vast majority in “indiscriminate attacks” by government forces. Although fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebel forces along the Idlib frontline is occurring on a smaller scale than during the previous report’s period, attacks by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have increased and are on track to double in Iraq and Syria this year. The Gaza war has also caused an increase in violence in the country as Israel continues to target Iran-affiliated groups, which are in turn attacking U.S. bases in the eastern provinces.
A wounded Syrian man waits for treatment at a makeshift clinic during Syrian government airstrikes on Zamalka, in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, March 13, 2018. (Credit: AFP)
The three-member Commission — created by the U.N. Human Rights Council and composed of legal and human rights experts from Brazil, Egypt and the UK — conducted 385 interviews and analyzed various documents, photos, videos and satellite imagery for the report, covering the first six months of 2024.
Torture from both sides
The Commission’s investigations found that torture and forced disappearances continue to be a common practice among both State and non-State actors across the country.
Authorities on all sides of the conflict “exercise power arbitrarily and commit violations with impunity,” the report states in its opening, “and six foreign militaries remain engaged.”
The Syrian government — a close ally of Russia, Iran and other foreign entities — controls around 70 percent of the territory, while non-State armed groups control various populated areas in the north and north-west, with the remaining areas being controlled by Israel, Turkey and the U.S.
The report lists the accounts of dozens of people who survived detention by both pro- and anti-government forces. Their testimonies add to the thorough documentation of torture and rape experienced across various demographics in Syria. They describe the inhumane conditions in detention centers belonging to both the Military Intelligence Directorate, under Assad, and the Syrian opposition coalition Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“Predatory security forces and factions use violence, detention and threats to extort money from civilians,” said Commissioner Hanny Megally. “You are liable to be arrested, tortured, raped, die in custody, or disappear in all areas of the country if you run afoul of authorities.”
Desertion, detention, disappearance
HTS has detained men, women, and children as young as seven, the Commission reports, including civilians detained for criticizing HTS and participating in anti-HTS protests.
Men who refused to serve in the military or deserted from service continued to suffer torture and rape in State custody this year, with one case highlighting the story of a deserter who fled Syria and was deported back to the country where he was detained for three months, beaten, tortured and kept a room meant for solitary confinement — along with eight others.
Turkey-backed Syrian fighters take part in a military drill near Marea in the rebel-controlled northern part of Syria's Aleppo province on Aug. 29, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
Lawyers, state agents and intermediaries demand bribes from those wishing to have a detainee released or transferred, the report explains, and bribes are often required in order for relatives to gain visitation rights, or even to receive updates on the conditions of their imprisoned loved ones.
With 90 percent of Syrians living below the poverty line, and just 20 percent of the 2024 U.N. humanitarian response plan funded by July, these bribe payments are an added financial hurdle to families and individuals struggling to cover basic needs.
Fresh warnings against deporting Syrians in Lebanon
“Syria remains acutely unsafe,” said Megally. “No Syrian refugee should be forced to return in the current circumstances.”
Since spring this year, the Lebanese government has introduced a series of tough measures against Syrians in the country. They have threatened increased deportations, despite warnings that the conditions in Syria means returnees could face torture, disappearance, or death.
“The Commission urges all Member States hosting Syrian refugees to ensure that any return is voluntary, safe, dignified, sustainable,” a spokesperson for the Commission told L’Orient Today. “No one who sought protection in a third country should be forced to return, whether in the region or beyond.”
Many Syrian refugees in neighboring countries came from areas that were formerly controlled by the opposition and are now under government control — and as a result, are particularly at risk should they return.
“We hope that the report’s findings are taken into account by all refugee-hosting countries as they determine their policies,” the spokesperson said, “and that donor countries are also persuaded to increase or at the very least sustain their funding to support these countries and the communities in which refugees have sought protection.”
They noted specifically that last fall, the number of Syrians seeking asylum in Europe reached the highest level in seven years.
The Commission is now in the lead-up to discussions with member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council, who are now in the process of reviewing the report ahead of a Sept. 20 presentation by Commissioners.