{"id":1986,"date":"2015-02-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=1986","title":{"rendered":"Indiscriminate Shelling Recorded the Highest Number of Casualties in Damascus and its Suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<a href=\"..\/english\/File\/DCHRS_Month_of_January_2015_Casualties_Statement_English.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Extreme Cold and imposed siege resulted in 76 Victims<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"..\/english\/File\/DCHRS_Month_of_January_2015_Casualties_Report_English.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Casualties Report for January 2015<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn January  2015, the DCHRS documented a provisional total of 1,133 casualties. 81% of  those killed were civilians. The remaining 19% belonged to one of the fighting  factions. Women and children respectively made up 8% and 13% of the total  number of war casualties.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe  most common cause of death was the shelling of residential areas, which caused  the death of 499 people in January. Sniper fire and indiscriminate shooting  killed 38, whereas 78 people were tortured to death in the detention centers of  the Syrian government authorities. A further 6 persons were murdered in  extrajudicial killings. Armed groups such as ISIS killed 86, whilst the source  of the bullets that killed another 28 persons cannot be attributed to a  particular group. 33 died from starvation, which is a direct result of the  siege that the Syrian regime imposes in many areas. In addition to 43 who died  from the extreme cold. Various explosions killed 39 people. Finally, 67 persons  were killed as result of airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOut  of all the Syrian regions, most deaths were recorded in the Damascus and its  suburb province. Violent clashes between regime forces and various armed groups  have engulfed large parts of Damascus as well as the surrounding countryside.  The Syrian regime has also targeted people in this area with barrel bombs. The  total number of casualties who were killed in Damascus and its suburbs were (332  people). 84% of those were civilians (280 people), and 190 of whom were killed  by indiscriminate shelling.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThrough  analysis of the casualties, it is possible to obtain a general picture of the  human rights situation in Syria. Two observations indicate that the Syrian  regime continues to actively target civilians. First, 81% of the total  casualties are civilians. Secondly, about 44% of the casualties were the  results of shelling, missiles, barrel bombs, and airstrikes. These methods of  warfare belong exclusively to the regime and are associated with a high number  of civilian deaths. The evidence collected by DCHRS points to grievous  violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian  law. Torture and extrajudicial killings constitute war crimes and crimes  against humanity.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe  DCHRS advocates for the protection of Syrian civilians. As a member of the  International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP), the DCHRS  calls upon the international community to fulfill its Responsibility to Protect  with regard to Syria. DCHRS also appeals to medical and humanitarian  organizations to provide relief to ease the suffering of the Syrian people  inside Syria and abroad.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Damascus Center  for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Feb 1, 2015<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more information, please contact:<\/strong><br \/>\nDr.  Radwan Ziadeh<br \/>\nExecutive  Director <br \/>\nTel:  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; +1 (571) 205-3590<br \/>\nEmail:  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"mailto:radwan.ziadeh@dchrs.org\">radwan.ziadeh@dchrs.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nMr.  Mojahed Ghadban<br \/>\nCommunications  Officer.<br \/>\nTel:  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; +1 (479) 799-8115<br \/>\nEmail:  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"mailto:info@dchrs.org\">info@dchrs.org<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n<a href=\"..\/english\/news.php\">The Damasus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS)<\/a> is  an independent human rights NGO that monitors the human rights situation in  Syria. Established in 2005, it  was initially located in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The mission of DCHRS  is to promote respect for human rights in Syria.\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n  DCHRS engages in numerous documentation projects.  These projects include <a href=\"..\/english\/news.php?idC=16\">daily casualty reports<\/a>, reports on particular  massacres, and the reporting and documenting of other human rights violations.  DCHRS has also works to lobby and advocate for Syrian human rights, and aims to  draw the world&rsquo;s attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in  Syria.\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n  Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the  center has expanded its activities, working to coordinate and communicate with  activists. At this time, the center began documenting the daily violations  committed by Syrian regime forces, many of which can be classified as crimes  against humanity or war crimes. As the conflict developed, DCHRS expanded its  monitoring activities to all armed groups.\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n  Human rights violations recorded by DCHRS have  included (but are not limited to): extrajudicial killings, massacres, arbitrary  detention, enforced disappearances, rape, and torture. DCHRS has <a href=\"..\/english\/news.php?id=1236&amp;idC=1\">opened local offices in Syria<\/a> in order to document  evidence concerning human rights violations on the ground. These reports have  been submitted by DCHRS to many international and regional human rights organizations,  as well as with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the  Syrian Arab Republic (established by the UN).\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\nDCHRS recognizes and adheres to all pertinent  international human rights agreements and declarations issued by the UN. DCHRS  is also a member of the following international networks:\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li> International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)<\/li>\n<li> Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)<\/li>\n<li> NGO Coalition for the international Criminal Court<\/li>\n<li> International Coalition for the Responsibility to  Protect (ICRtoP)<\/li>\n<li> International Coalition of Sites of Conscience  (ICSC)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\n<a href=\\\"..\/english\/File\/DCHRS_Month_of_January_2015_Casualties_Statement_English.pdf\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\"><strong>Extreme Cold and imposed siege resulted in 76 Victims<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\\\"..\/english\/File\/DCHRS_Month_of_January_2015_Casualties_Report_English.pdf\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\"><strong>Casualties Report for January 2015<\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn January  2015, the DCHRS documented a provisional total of 1,133 casualties. 81% of  those killed were civilians. The remaining 19% belonged to one of the fighting  factions. Women and children respectively made up 8% and 13% of the total  number of war casualties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}