Syria: 850 killed in prisons and security facilities this year; advocacy group claims Syrian government attacked healthcare facilities during civil war

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UK based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday that 850 people have been killed in Syrian security forces facilities and prisons this year. The monitoring group said that the victims lost by executions, torture, due to poor conditions or maltreatment. Six women and 15 children were among the victims, the group added.

The monitoring group, which on a network of military and medical sources, along with several activists in Syria, said that the death toll could have been even higher if the 18,000-odd people held by the government for the past three years had not disappeared. Rami Abdul Rahman, the Observatory’s Director, said that “the number of victims is increasing because there are no measures being taken to deter the regime”.

According to the Observatory, in the 847 cases it documented till May 13th, the victims’ families were notified by Syrian authorities. The Syrian government has denied that its security forces were involved in mistreatment, widespread torture and execution of detainees.

US-based advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights has said that government forces were responsible for 90% of verified attacks on healthcare amenities in Syria, contradicting statements made by Syrian officials that the rebels were to blame.

The group recently publish an interactive map which apparently represents the most comprehensive study of assaults on hospitals, clinics and medical workers in the country. The map also links to videos, photographs and reports of the 150 attacks on 124 different medical facilities documented by the group since the Syrian uprising started in 2011. Over 468 civilian medical personnel have reported to have died in the three-year time period.

According to Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights Donna McKay, “Syria is among the worst examples of targeting medical care as a weapon of war, and we must not allow these rampant abuses to become the new norm in conflict”.

Click here for interactive map.