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Geneva — The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on Tuesday that 306,887 civilians had been killed in Syria during the conflict since March 2011. This is about 1.5% of the prewar population, the highest estimate ever.
The Syrian conflict arose from a peaceful protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in March 2011, transforming it into a multifaceted and protracted conflict that sucked in the world’s great powers.
The front lines have been largely frozen for years, but violence continues and the humanitarian crisis is exacerbated with millions still evacuated within the Syrian border.
“The range of civilian casualties over the last decade represents 1.5% of the total population of the Arab Republic of Syria at the beginning of the conflict, raising serious concerns about the inability of the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law. According to a report mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Code on the Protection of Citizens. “
Nevertheless, this estimate is believed to represent “only some of all the dead.” This is because it includes only those who died as a direct result of the war, not indirect deaths due to lack of access to health care, food or water. It also did not include non-civilian deaths.
The number one cause of civilian deaths is due to so-called “multiple weapons” (35.1 percent), including clashes, ambushes and slaughter, according to a UN report accompanying the statement. The second cause of death was heavy weapons (23.3 percent).
The UN’s head of rights, Michelle Bachelet, said the latest analysis would give “a clearer sense of the seriousness and scale of the conflict.”
The United Nations said last year that at least 350,209 people had been killed in Syria so far. However, Francesca Marotta, who is in charge of the UN Rights Agency’s methodology, revealed on Tuesday that these figures also include non-citizens.
By Emma Phage
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