Overview

President Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power in December, following decades of rule by the al-Assad family characterized by repression and grave human rights violations, raising hopes for long overdue justice and reparation for victims. Throughout the year, all parties to the conflict and their allies conducted unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. President Assad’s government, Turkish border guards and factions of the Syrian National Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces were responsible for unlawful killings and torture and other ill-treatment. Tens of thousands of people remained arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared. More than 56,000 people continued to be subjected to human rights violations in the custody of the autonomous authorities in north-eastern Syria. Following the overthrow of President Assad’s government, opposition groups freed detainees held in the former government’s detention facilities across Syria. Many of the detainees had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment; thousands more remained missing. Throughout the year, Syria’s humanitarian situation remained bleak; millions were living in poverty and depended on humanitarian aid to survive.