Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war

Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war have been numerous and serious, with UN reports stating that the war has been "characterized by a complete lack of adherence to the norms of international law" by the warring parties who have "caused civilians immeasurable suffering". As of October 2015 an estimated 100,000 civilians have been killed, and half of the country’s population have fled their homes.

According to various human rights organizations and the United Nations, human rights violations have been committed by both the government and the rebels, with the "vast majority of the abuses having been committed by the Syrian government". The U.N. commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria confirms at least 9 intentional mass killings in the period 2012 to mid-July 2013, identifying the perpetrator as Syrian government and its supporters in eight cases, and the opposition in one.

The Assad regime has been blamed for using chemical weapons (chlorine gas) against civilians and conducted torture and extrajudicial killings. Assad has also be accused of "Indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombardment and shelling" which "led to mass civilian casualties and spread terror." War crimes reported being committed by the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups include recruiting child soldiers, shelling civilian-populated areas, taking hostages and murdering members of religious minorities, and use of poison gas. A May 2013 the UN confirmed that rebel groups in the war had used the nerve agent sarin gas as a weapon against the Syrian government.

Four of the international instruments ratified by Syria and which apply to events in the civil war are particularly relevant: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the UN Convention Against Torture. Syria is not a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, although it is bound by the provisions of the ICCPR that also prohibit enforced disappearances.

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