Statement on the death toll of 2012 documented by name, date, photos and videos

36332 Syrian citizens were killed during 2012 with an average of 101 citizens every day and 4 citizens every hour.

The total number of victims includes:

3327 children
3194 women
957 under torture
1941 Free Syrian Army members mostly civilians who have joined the FSA
467 elderly aged over 60 years 

In the following link, a complete list of victims (36332 without any replication) accumulated by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) along with the date of death, place, photos and videos is accessible on the SNHR server:
http://www.syrianhr.org/reports/All_2012_Updated.pdf

The proportion of women and children to the total number of victims is 5.2 which is a conclusive  evidence that the Syrian government is deliberately targeting civilians as the internationally recognized ratio in the case of regular warfare is 2%. The Syrian government has killed more than double that percentage and in some months the percentage was more than three times that benchmark.

According to SNHR  records, the distribution of victims on the Syrian governorates was as follows:
Damascus Suburbs                     8271
Homs                                             5635
Aleppo                                           5447
Idleb                                               4724
Dara’a                                             2991
Hama                                              2727
Deir Ezzor                                      2647
Damascus                                      2425
Lattakia                                           416
Arakka                                            326
Quneitrah                                       268
Hasakeh                                          208
Other nationalities                        195
Tartous                              27
Suweida                           25

IMPORTANT:

It must be noted that there are many cases that we were unable to reach and document particularly in the case of massacres and besieged areas where the Syrian government frequently blocks communication. This indicates that the actual death toll is likely to be higher as there are dozens of cases in which residents buried the bodies in mass graves to prevent the spread of diseases. This complicated situation is attributed to the official ban by the Syrian government preventing any human rights organization from working on its territories.

SNHR Documentation Methodology:

SNHR keeps a comprehensive archive of casualties. It has been keen since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution on documenting and keeping record of all names, photos and videos of casualties in different Syrian governorates through its members throughout Syria.

SNHR adopts three main criteria and a standard mechanism for daily documentation of casualties:

1. Statistics published by SNHR are always accompanied by supporting documents including specific and accurate details for each one of the documented cases. These documents are provided for all concerned bodies. It is precisely for that reason that many international organizations around the world have come to rely on SNHR as a main source of information and periodically request updated lists.

2. SNHR is strictly concerned with the documentation of civilian casualties because it is extremely difficult to document military casualties particularly among the ranks loyal to the Syrian government be it in the army, secret police or security forces. This has been the case because the Syrian authorities have refused to grant SNHR authorization to work on their territories. Further, some of our field staff have been arrested. SNHR has no links to the Syrian government. On occasion, we have been able to document some of the casualties among the ranks of the Free Syrian Army by contacting their friends and families. Most of those FSA casualties are civilians who joined its ranks.

3. SNHR undertakes documenting most of the massacres committed by the army, security forces and Shabiha militias against civilians. This is the most challenging and complicated task we undertake. Based our documentation of the massacres and the number of casualties in each of them the total number of casualties is documented accurately and objectively.

Condemnation:

As a human rights organisation concerned with the protection of human rights, SNHR holds the Syrian President Commander in Chief of the Syrian army, Bashar al-Assad, responsible for all acts of homicide, torture and massacres perpetrated in Syria as he holds the primary responsibility for giving the orders for these acts. SNHR considers all Syrian regime members and heads of the security and military bodies directly complicity in those acts. By the same token, SNHR considers the Iranian government and Hezbullah as direct partners in the acts of homicide who shall legally and judicially liable for those acts along with all those funding and supporting the Syrian regime which is systematically committing massacres on a daily basis. SNHR holds all the above mentioned parties responsible for all consequences and potential reactions from the Syrian people in general and the families of the victims in particular.

SNHR calls upon the UN Security Council, the United Nations and all member states to act with utmost urgency to undertake all necessary actions to protect civilians in Syria. By failing to do so, they shall be considered responsible, to a large extent, for the death of civilians along with the Syrian regime. It is their moral and legal duty to meet their obligations and   accelerate the process of referring all those responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria to the ICC.

Syrian Network for Human Rights – London
Website: www.syrianhr.org
Email: press@syrianhr.org
Skype: Syrianhr