Syrian death toll at 60,000 says UN Human Rights group
On Wednesday in a press release United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stated that a detailed analysis has revealed that the bloody conflict in Syria has left over 60,000 people have died.
Fighting has been ongoing in Syria since a violent and deadly crackdown on demonstrations in March 2011 against Bashir al-Assad and Syrian government.
“Although this is the most detailed and wide-ranging analysis of casualty figures so far, this is by no means a definitive figure,” the High Commissioner said. “We have not been able to verify the circumstances of each and every death, partly because of the nature of the conflict and partly because we have not been allowed inside Syria since the unrest began in March 2011. Once there is peace in Syria, further investigations will be necessary to discover precisely how many people have died, and in what circumstances, and who was responsible for all the crimes that have been committed. This analysis provides a very useful basis upon which future investigations can be built to enhance accountability and provide justice and reparations to victims’ families.”
This has evolved into open revolution by numerous rebel factions.
Human Rights violations have occurred on both sides, though Assad’s governmental forces have been using almost every type of weapon available against its own people, even missiles, in an attempt to quell the rebellion.
Rebels reportedly beheaded a Christian this week and left his remains for the dogs.
The analysis — which the High Commissioner stressed is “a work in progress, not a final product” — shows a steady increase in the average number of documented deaths per month since the beginning of the conflict, from around 1,000 per month in the summer of 2011 to an average of more than 5,000 per month since July 2012. The greatest number of reported killings have occurred in Homs (12,560), rural Damascus (10,862) and Idlib (7,686), followed by Aleppo (6,188), Daraa (6,034) and Hama (5,080).