The human cost of the Syrian civil war has been enormous. In April 2016, the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the conflict had killed about 400,000 people. By December 2016, estimates put the death toll at 450,000. During the same period, around 4.8 million Syrians fled the country as refugees, 6.3 million people were displaced inside Syria, and 13.5 million needed humanitarian assistance.

The war has brought widespread destruction and severe suffering for civilians. Aid groups have repeatedly condemned the conflict’s brutal and indiscriminate violence. In March 2017, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported about 465,000 deaths. That figure included 96,000 civilian deaths, while another 145,000 civilians were reported missing.

The same source attributed roughly 140,000 civilian deaths to the government of President Bashar al-Assad and its allies, including Russia. It also recorded 7,900 civilian deaths linked to Syrian rebel forces and aligned groups, 4,900 to the Islamic State group, 2,670 to the US-led coalition, and 1,000 to Turkey.

Reported human rights violations and responsibility

Human rights organisations and the United Nations have reported abuses by both government forces and armed opposition groups. However, they have also stated that Syrian government forces committed most of the documented violations.

A UN commission examining abuses in Syria confirmed at least nine deliberate mass killings between 2012 and mid-July 2013. It identified the Syrian government and its supporters as responsible in eight cases, while opposition forces were blamed in one.

Later UN studies reported that the Assad government used chemical weapons, including chlorine gas, against civilians. They also described torture and extrajudicial killings. In addition, the government carried out heavy aerial bombardment and shelling that caused large-scale civilian deaths and spread fear. These actions, along with other alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, drew international condemnation and calls for accountability through the International Criminal Court.

UN findings on terror tactics and abuses by armed groups

A UN report released in February 2014 described a broad campaign of terror against civilians, including forced disappearances carried out in a systematic way. The report also said pro-Assad forces continued massacres and wide attacks on civilians. It documented patterns of murder, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance that it said amounted to crimes against humanity.

In August 2014, another UN report stated that the Assad regime continued indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas. It also reported chemical attacks, torture, forced disappearances, and the extrajudicial killing of detainees. At the same time, the report said some rebel groups recruited child soldiers. It also described shelling of civilian areas, as well as kidnapping and hostage-taking. The report added that the Islamic State group systematically targeted people from religious minorities.

Civilian harm from airstrikes and attacks on protected sites

Civilian deaths from airstrikes by the US-led coalition against Islamic State have also been significant. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported 2,286 civilian deaths from the start of the campaign to September 2017. That reporting raised concerns that the coalition did not take sufficient steps to reduce civilian casualties.

Unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian structures have also been attributed to Syrian-Russian coalition forces and other parties. Reports highlighted repeated strikes on medical facilities, along with attacks on schools and mosques. Amnesty International’s 2017 to 2018 report on Syria stated that parties to the conflict committed war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, often without punishment.