Skip to Main Content
Printer Friendly Home > Places > Syria

Syria

Since mid-March, 2011, Syrian government forces have sought to crush citizen uprisings. More than 1,700 people have been killed and at least 10,000 are reported to be in custody or missing. In addition to the widely reported atrocities committed by the government, PHR has discovered reports of serious violations of medical neutrality in Syria and documented these alarming attacks on the medical profession.

New tool helps U.S. group track sex crimes in Syria (March 29, 2012)

A U.S. women's group is using new crowd-sourcing techniques to track rape and other sexual violence across Syria in one of the first efforts to monitor assaults against women during military conflict in real-time.

New Report: Syrian Forces Launched Assault on Country’s Medical System (December 16, 2011)

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today released a report detailing the Syrian government’s all-out assault on the country’s medical system. PHR’s report includes new and alarming evidence that government forces deny wounded civilians impartial medical treatment; invade, attack, and misuse hospitals; attack and impede medical transport, and detain and torture doctors for treating wounded civilians. These documented attacks illustrate the broader violence that the Syrian people have endured over the past several months.

Syrians protest Assad, as Arabs delay crisis talks (December 16, 2011)

Tens of thousands of Syrians, some of them calling for their president's execution, protested against the authoritarian regime on Friday, as the Arab League indefinitely postponed a meeting on the crisis because of divisions over how to stop the bloodshed. Security forces opened fire during protests and conducted security raids in several places around the country, killing at least 10 people, most of them in Syria's rebellious central region, activists said. The army also sent reinforcements into a southern area where military defectors recently launched deadly attacks on regime troops.

Doctors under fire amid 'Arab Spring' revolutions (November 29, 2011)

As the revolutions collectively known as “the Arab Spring” have rocked the Middle East and North Africa, medical professionals have often been caught in the crossfire. PHR's Richard Sollom joins WHYY NPR in Philadelphia to discuss doctors under siege in the Arab world, and the pursuit of “medical neutrality” on Capitol Hill and in the United Nations.

More Mass Atrocities News »
More Medical Neutrality News »
More Persecution of Health Workers News »

Syrian Medics At The Frontline (April 10, 2012)

In the last thirteen months, at least 8000 Syrian civilians have died in a brutal government crackdown according to the UN. Medical professionals who dare to treat the injured have also found themselves in the line of fire.

Government Offers Protection for Syrians in the US (March 27, 2012)

In a statement issued on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Obama administration will designate Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), offering Syrians currently living in the US a chance to stay in the country while the Assad regime continues its brutal suppression of the pro-democracy movement.

Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis and the Doctors Who Risk Their Lives to Address It (March 21, 2012)

The Syrian government escorted a team of UN technical staff into the country this week. Although this ostensible show of glasnost may look encouraging, restricting UN agencies’ access will result in an unreliable assessment of Syria’s humanitarian needs.

As Situation in Syria Worsens, U.S. Embassy in Damascus Closes (February 7, 2012)

As the situation in Syria devolves, Russia and China should see that they have chosen the wrong side of history with their recent veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution designed to end the atrocities in Syria.

More Mass Atrocities Posts »
More Medical Neutrality Posts »
More Persecution of Health Workers Posts »

PHR Calls on UN Security Council to Refer Situation in Syria to ICC (April 2012)

Syria’s failure to withdraw troops from urban areas this morning was a disappointment. The country had agreed to a withdrawal under a United Nations-brokered ceasefire. Rather than abide by its commitment, the Government of Syria has instead continued to attack civilians after the deadline.

PHR Applauds US for Delivering Aid to Opposition Groups Within Syria (March 2012)

PHR applauds the US Administration for delivering aid, including medical supplies to opposition groups within Syria.

Recently Released Video Appears to Show Evidence of Torture at Hands of Syria’s Medical Professionals (March 2012)

Recent news reports state that the UN special rapporteur on torture has said a video showing evidence of torture within Syrian hospitals, “is consistent with what my mandate (office) has been receiving over the last several months.” This documentation of gruesome attacks on injured patients, apparently captured on film by a hospital employee, is further evidence of the brutality unleashed on civilians by the Syrian government.

International Community Must Find Unified Response to Crisis in Syria (February 2012)

As the bloodshed in Syria—which local organizations report has killed over 8,000 people so far—reaches new proportions daily, international actors have been unable to find an effective response to the crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime.

More Mass Atrocities Research »
More Medical Neutrality Research »
More Persecution of Health Workers Research »

Featured Report

Syria: Attacks on Doctors, Patients, and Hospitals

The Syrian government has responded to popular protests with months of sustained and extreme violence and intimidation, and an all-out assault on the country’s medical system. PHR has documented attacks on Syria’s medical profession – violations that are but one aspect of the myriad abuses the Syrian people have endured over the past several months. Read More »

Featured Expert

Abdulrazzaq al-Saiedi

Abdulrazzaq al-Saiedi

Prior to joining PHR, Razzaq served as a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, studying the impact of the Iraqi elections on the political and democratic processes in Iraq. Read More »