Human Rights Watch has issued a report detailing human rights violations committed in the areas controlled by the Democratic Union Party (PYD)- an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey. The report documents the arbitrary arrests of those who oppose the PKK and violations committed whilst they were detained, as well as cases […]
Human Rights Watch: New Deadly Cluster Munition Attacks
Human Rights Watch : Syrian government forces are using a powerful type of cluster munition rocket not seen before in the conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. The new use of cluster munitions is causing civilian casualties and adding to the country’s already devastating legacy of unexploded ordnance. Evidence indicates that government forces used the […]
HRW : The Dark Stories Children Tell in Syria
“Nearly three years ago, when I first traveled to Syria to interview children about the worsening events in their country, they all had a story to tell. Those stories were awful—16-year-olds detained and tortured in dark government cells , and boys who sustained serious bullet wounds in anti-government protests. But these days, children with just […]
HRW: Thousands of Houses Unlawfully Razed
Satellite imagery, witness statements, and video and photographic evidence show that Syrian authorities deliberately and unlawfully demolished thousands of residential buildings in Damascus and Hama in 2012 and 2013, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 38-page report, “Razed to the Ground: Syria’s Unlawful Neighborhood Demolitions in 2012-2013,” documents seven cases of […]
HRW: Justice Essential for Durable Peace
Five human rights priorities should be central to the discussions between the Syrian government and opposition delegations ahead of the opening of the first direct negotiations between the warring parties in Syria. The priorities should be justice, humanitarian aid access, rights-respecting treatment of detainees, security sector reform, and an end to the unlawful use of […]
HRW : Syria: Donors Should Demand Access, Increase Aid
Human Rights Watch : “Donors attending a pledging conference for Syria should push the Syrian government to eliminate obstacles to effective aid distribution, and increase their contributions. The conference will be held in Kuwait City on January 15, 2014. “We desperately need additional funding for humanitarian aid to Syria,” said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director […]
On the 24rd Anniversary : The massacre of Palmyra (Tadmur) Prison
Historical Hints and Backgrounds The massacre of Palmyra (Tadmur) Prison that was executed on the morning of June 27, 1980, when hundreds of Islamist political detainees were killed, did not take place out of nothing and was not the result of a moment of anger, as some apologists attempt to justify the […]