The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR, ar, الشبكة السورية لحقوق الإنسان) is a UK-based independent monitoring group,Chotiner, Isaac (May 13, 2019)
"A Times Reporter Documents the Horror of Syria’s Torture Sites"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. which monitors casualties and briefs various

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

agencies.Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (July 7, 2019)
"Russian-led assault in Syria leaves over 500 civilians dead: rights groups, rescuers"

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

. It monitors Syrian casualties of all the parties in the Syrian civil war.Roberts, Rachel (April 3, 2017)
"US-led coalition killed more Syrian civilians than Isis or Russia in March, figures show"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''. The SNHR was founded in June 2011 by Fadel Abdul Ghany, who is the chairman of the board of directors."About Us"
Syrian Network for Human Rights. Members have been detained, and many now live outside

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Its reports have been cited by news media,

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

s, as well as by the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...

."Statement to the Security Council by the High Commissioner on Human Rights on Missing Persons"
OHCHR.

Accuracy

Fadel Abdul Ghany stated that figures will be vital if peace comes to Syria in establishing transitional justice. In tracking deaths, Ghany has said he used similar tactics to those of the

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

, but the SNHR only count civilians. Ghany said accurate counting was immensely challenging due to a number of factors including the complexity of the conflict, the lack of direct access to conflict areas, and ethnic and political divisions. During the month of March 2017, according to figures released by the SNHR, more Syrian civilians were killed by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

-led coalitions than by

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n-led forces. The SNHR acknowledged the real number of civilians killed in the conflict could be much higher because of the difficulties in keeping track of victims. In 2018, The Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC) counted nearly 9,500 deaths in detention since 2011, compared to over 13,000 counted by the SNHR. The VDC acknowledged its estimates were more conservative than the SNHR as its methodology was to only document deaths once information like the name of the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths were confirmed."As Assad claims victory in Syrian civil war, families learn fates of disappeared loved ones"
''

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially report ...

''. September 10, 2018. As of May 2019, according to the SNHR, nearly 128,000 people have never emerged from

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

's secret network of prisons – and nearly 14,000 were killed by torture. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that the SNHR's tally, described as the most rigorous, was probably an undercount. Barnard, Anne (May 11, 2019)
"Inside Syria’s Secret Torture Prisons: How Bashar al-Assad Crushed Dissent"
''The New York Times''. Anne Barnard of ''The New York Times'' was asked how the SNHR compiled their figures. Barnard said the reason they were considered the most rigorous and reliably conservative numbers is their numbers were actual counts of reports they received, and they were not extrapolations or estimates. Barnard said a death had to be reported by a family member or a direct witness and they did not take third party accounts. She added that they took phone calls and had a form on their website, and then they went through and verified what they could in the detailed report. They also went back and called people listed as possible family members of people who were missing for a long time to find out if they were still missing. It has been used a source in reports by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

and the US State Department.

Governance

SNHR is registered as a non-profit limited liability company in the United Kingdom, and a non-profit organization in the United States.Owens, K. (2018).
Improving the Odds: Strengthening the Prospects for Accountability in the Syrian Conflict by Regulating the Marketplace for Information on Atrocity Crimes
." ''U. Miami Int'l & Comp. L. Rev.'', 26, 369. It is governed by a Board of Directors with five members and its executive director manages seven divisions. As of 2019, it has 27 full-time employees as well as over 70 volunteers.

References

External links

SNHR website
{{Portal, Asia, War Organizations of the Syrian civil war

Accuracy

Governance

See also

References

External links