2020. 05. 11.

Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief | COVID-19 | UN News

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Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be

ignored’: UN human rights chief

UNDP Syria The UN is supporting vulnerable communities in Syria during the coronavirus pandemic.

8 May 2020 Peace and Security (/en/news/topic/peace-and-security)

As civilian casualties mount across Syria and human rights violations continue
unabated, the UN rights chief expressed serious concern on Friday that some
parties to the con ict, including ISIL terrorist ghters, may be using the COVID-19
pandemic as “an opportunity to regroup and in ict violence on the population”.  

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2020. 05. 11. Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief | COVID-19 | UN News

Calling the deteriorating situation “a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored”, UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet lamented
(https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25873&LangID=E):
"We are receiving more reports every day of targeted killings and bombings from one end of the
country to the other, with many such attacks taking place in populated areas".

Taking stock

UN Human Rights
@UNHumanRights

#Syria: We are receiving more reports every day of targeted

killings & bombings from one end of the country to the other,
with many attacks taking place in populated areas –
@mbachelet. She urges all parties in Syria to "step back & give
peace a chance" ow.ly/kcc350zAKxZ

349 4:26 PM - May 8, 2020

174 people are talking about this

Last month, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) took 35 civilian lives, according to the UN Human
Rights Of ce, compared to seven the previous month. 

And since the start of March, residential neighbourhoods and markets have been targeted. 

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2020. 05. 11. Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief | COVID-19 | UN News

Nearly all attacks have occurred in northern and eastern parts of the country under the control of
Turkish armed forces and af liated armed groups, or of the opposing Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces . 

The UN Human Rights Of ce (OHCHR (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/pages/home.aspx) ) of ce

recapped an incident that occurred on 28 April in which a fuel truck exploded in a market in the
northwestern city of Afrin, that killed 51 people, 29 of whom were civilians.

In most cases, no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks.

“Syria has been wracked by violence for nearly a decade resulting in the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of people, and displacement of millions”, asserted Ms. Bachelet. “Countless families have
been traumatized, and numerous cities, towns, villages and individual homes have been destroyed".

Government-controlled tally
And in southern Syria, the UN documented 52 incidents of targeted killings since early March that
have left 17 civilians dead in the Government-controlled Dar'a Governorate. 

OHCHR singled out a 4 April attack where a former armed group killed nine police of cers in the
town of al-Muzairib in western rural Dar'a. And in the past two weeks, ISIL has claimed
responsibility for three attacks in the area.

The UN human rights chief also expressed alarm at the number of deaths and injuries caused by
explosive remnants of war, such as landmines and other forms of unexploded ordnance, noting that
since the start of March, 41 incidents have resulted in 29 civilian deaths.

"If the current patterns of violations and abuses continue to spread and escalate, there is a risk the
country will enter another spiral of extreme and wide-spread violence committed with impunity by
all parties to the con ict", maintained the UN rights chief.

Cease re
mostly
holding

Meanwhile, a cease re in the north-western province of Idlib, brokered by Turkey and Russia, who
support opposing sides in the con ict, is mostly holding. 

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2020. 05. 11. Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief | COVID-19 | UN News

However, intermittent clashes and ground-based strikes between pro-Government forces and
armed groups continue to be reported in western rural Aleppo and southern rural Idlib.

Ms. Bachelet echoed once again calls by the UN Secretary General for a global cease re
(https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1061012) which the world battles the common enemy of
COVID-19 (https://www.un.org/coronavirus) , urging all parties to the various con icts in Syria to
silence the guns.

"The protection of civilian life is paramount, and the blatant disregard for civilian safety runs
contrary to the obligations that all parties must uphold under international humanitarian law and
international human rights law," concluded the UN High Commissioner for Human.

"I urge all those continuing to ght, kill and displace the battered and beleaguered Syrian people to
step back, and give peace a chance."

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Average of 80,000 COVID-19 new cases a day in April: UN health agency

(/en/story/2020/05/1063362)
6 May 2020 Health (/en/news/topic/health)
Since the start of the month, an average of 80,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported each day to the
World Health Organization (WHO (https://www.who.int/)), the agency’s chief told journalists listening in to
his virtual press conference on Wednesday.

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2020. 05. 11. Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief | COVID-19 | UN News

(/en/story/2020/04/1061192)

Syria: Warring parties failed to abide by international law over hospital attacks
(/en/story/2020/04/1061192)
6 April 2020 Peace and Security (/en/news/topic/peace-and-security)
Parties to Syria’s brutal civil war, now in its tenth year, failed to abide by their obligations under
international law to avoid attacks on hospitals and other civilian facilities that featured on the UN’s so-
called decon iction list, Secretary-General António Guterres (https://www.un.org/sg/en) said on Monday. 

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