Syria: Majority of 88 deaths in custody caused by torture

last updated Aug 31, 2011

According to the human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI), 88 people have died in custody between April and mid-August. The majority, at least 52, of the victims were subjected to torture and ill-treatment which led or contributed to the death of the detainees. Guards and security forces allegedly used beatings, burnings, electro-shocks and other methods.

: Over 700,000 protesters in Hama, 22 July; Source: Flickr (syriana 2011)

It is believed that between 12,000 and 15,000 people are currently detained in the country, most of them are held incommunicado and at a great risk of torture, a practise that is wide-spread in Syria and has grown since the beginning of the protests. The UN estimates the death toll at more than 2,200. Of the 88 casualties in prison, 40 are reported from the Homs governorate, and many others from Dera’a, two strongholds of protests.

AI has urged the UN Security Council to refer the Syrian situation to the International Criminal Court and to impose an arms embargo on the country.

The situation in Syria is still tense with new protests rising after the end of Ramadan. According to the opposition, seven civilians were killed on Tuesday in Dera’a and Homs.

AI: Syria’s surge of deaths in detention revealed

Guardian: Syria crackdown horror catalogued in Amnesty deaths in detention report

BBC News: Dozens 'tortured and killed in Syria detention centres'

Syrian Arab Republic country profile