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  • News
  • Syria
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Lack of adequate COVID-19 response puts thousands of lives at risk

Nearly eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Syrian government is failing to adequately protect its health workers, still lacks a robust response to the spread of the disease, and is refusing to provide transparent and consistent information about the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, Amnesty International said today. Relatives of COVID-19 patients, medical professionals and humanitarian workers have told Amnesty International that public hospitals have been forced to turn patients away due to a lack of beds, oxygen tanks and ventilators.

Date:
12 November 2020
  • News
  • Syria
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Innovative ‘War in Raqqa’ website now available in Arabic

An innovative website documenting the impact on civilians of the US-led Coalition’s military operation in Raqqa, Syria, against the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) is now available in Arabic, ahead of the third anniversary of the end of the offensive on 17 October 2017. The interactive website – War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality – brings together 360° photographs, videos, personal stories, satellite images and maps to document the reality of the reckless bombing campaign which killed and injured thousands of civilians, and destroyed most of the city between June and October 2017.

Date:
14 October 2020
  • News
  • Syria
  • Armed Conflict

UN: Russia and China launch despicable veto of lifesaving aid for millions of civilians in Syria

Reacting to the Russian and Chinese veto of a UN Security Council draft Resolution that would have renewed the provision of cross-border humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria, Sherine Tadros, Amnesty International’s Head of UN Office, said:“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of ensuring the crossing points, delivering vital aid, stay open. For millions of Syrians, it is the difference between having food to eat and starving.

Date:
7 July 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Detention

Syria: Peaceful protesters detained in Sweida must be released immediately

The Syrian government must immediately and unconditionally release 11 men who were detained following peaceful protests in the predominantly-Druze city of Sweida, Amnesty International said today. Anti-government protests began on 7 June, initially due to concerns regarding Syria’s collapsing economy. However, they quickly escalated to include calls for “regime change”, the withdrawal of Russian and Iranian forces from Syria, and the release of detainees.

Date:
24 June 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: UN must not cut vital aid lifeline to north-west amid Russian and Syrian war crimes

Detailed investigation into 18 air and ground attacks on schools and hospitals Russia and Syria deliberately hit hospitals on UN ‘do not target’ list Strong evidence of Russia’s direct involvement in unlawful air strikes The UN Security Council must not cut a vital aid lifeline for civilians in the context of war crimes and crimes against humanity in north-west Syria, Amnesty International urged today, as a resolution allowing humanitarian assistance to reach Idlib across Syria’s borders is set to expire in the coming weeks.

Date:
11 May 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Torture and other ill-treatment

Syria: Torture trial in Germany a ‘historic step’ towards justice

The first trial of two former officials of the Syrian government’s security service charged with crimes against humanity marks an important step towards justice, Amnesty International said. Tomorrow, Anwar Raslan, reported to have been charged with torture including rape and sexual violence, and Eyad al-Gharib, reported to have been charged with torture, will go on trial at the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany.

Date:
22 April 2020
  • News
  • Syria
  • Torture and other ill-treatment

Syria: Vulnerable prisoners should be released to prevent spread of COVID-19

The Syrian authorities must cooperate fully with UN agencies and humanitarian organizations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s prisons, detention centres and military hospitals, Amnesty International has warned. Prisoners and detainees, including tens of thousands of people arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared, are at risk of contracting the disease as they are held in unhygienic conditions in locations across the country operated by the country’s security forces.

Date:
31 March 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Targeting schools being properly used for educational purposes in Idlib is a war crime

Following reports that 10 schools were hit by shelling in Idlib and Aleppo countryside, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East Director, said: “Schools should be safe places for children to learn and play, even in a conflict zone. Targeting schools and kindergartens is a war crime. “Nine years into the crisis, the Syrian government continues to show utter disregard for the laws of war and the lives of civilians.

Date:
25 February 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • International Organizations

Syria: Failure to renew UN resolution on cross-border aid spells humanitarian disaster

Russia and China’s callous use of their veto power to stop the renewal of a UN resolution which expires today, will leave millions of civilians in northern Syria cut off from lifesaving aid, said Amnesty International today. The failure to renew the mechanism established by UN Resolution 2165 in 2014, which had enabled UN humanitarian agencies to deliver aid across the Turkish border to areas of northern Syria controlled by armed opposition groups, will seriously exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation, especially in Idlib and surrounding areas.

Date:
10 January 2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Amnesty International's Digital Verification Corps wins prestigious Times Higher Education Award

Open source investigation on Raqqa, Syria wins best ‘international collaboration’ Reacting to the news that Amnesty International and University of Essex were awarded this year’s Times Higher Education award for International Collaboration, Sam Dubberley, Head of Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps, said: “We’re delighted and this award recognizes what we and our university partners around the world already knew – that the Digital Verification Corps has gone from strength to strength since its inception only a few short years ago.

Date:
29 November 2019
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Damning evidence of war crimes and other violations by Turkish forces and their allies

Turkish military forces and a coalition of Turkey-backed Syrian armed groups have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian life, carrying out serious violations and war crimes, including summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians, during the offensive into northeast Syria, said Amnesty International today. The organization gathered witness testimony between 12 and 16 October from 17 people including medical and rescue workers, displaced civilians, journalists, local and international humanitarian workers, as well as analyzing and verifying video footage and reviewing medical reports and other documentation.

Date:
18 October 2019
  • News
  • Europe and Central Asia
  • Killings and Disappearances

Syria: Turkish military offensive risks a humanitarian catastrophe

The military offensive by Turkey in northeast Syria risks devastating humanitarian consequences and a further destabilization of the region, warned Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Marie Struthers, reiterating the call on Turkey to respect international law. “Hostilities will impact and restrict access to humanitarian aid pushing the civilian population, which has already suffered years of violence and displacement, to the brink.

Date:
11 October 2019
  • News
  • Syria
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Civilians at risk as Turkish military offensive looms

Responding to the Turkish government’s statements that its forces are set to cross into northeast Syria “shortly” as part of an offensive to move US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director Lynn Maalouf said: “As the Turkish military gears up to attack Kurdish forces in northeast Syria, it is imperative that all parties to this conflict respect international humanitarian law, including by refraining from carrying out attacks on civilians and civilian objects, as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.

Date:
9 October 2019
  • News
  • Hungary
  • Refugees

Hungary: Syrian man unjustly jailed finally allowed home to Cyprus

Authorities in Cyprus have finally allowed Ahmed H, a Syrian man unjustly convicted in Hungary in a blatant misuse of terrorism-related charges, to return to his family today. Responding to the news that Ahmed - who had been jailed in Hungary in 2015, would return home, Giorgos Kosmopoulos, Amnesty International's Greece Campaigner, said:  “After four long years of separation Ahmed has finally been reunited with his family, just in time for his elder daughter’s tenth birthday.

Date:
28 September 2019
  • News
  • Syria
  • Disappearances

Syria: Families left alone to find answers about disappeared relatives

The families of tens of thousands of people who have been forcibly disappeared or abducted since the onset of the crisis in Syria in 2011 have suffered years of agony in the face of government denials and insufficient support from the international community, Amnesty International said today. On International Day of the Disappeared, the organization called for unified international action to support the families who have spent years left alone to search for their loved ones, often at great risk, in addition to coping with the impact of the disappearance.

Date:
30 August 2019
  • News
  • Lebanon
  • Refugees

Lebanon: Authorities must immediately halt deportation of Syrian refugees

Responding to an official communication obtained by Amnesty International that the Lebanese authorities forcibly deported almost 2,500 Syrian refugees back to Syria in the past three months, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, Lynn Maalouf, said: “We urge the Lebanese authorities to stop these deportations as a matter of urgency, and the Higher Defense Council to cancel its related decision.

Date:
27 August 2019