A/HRC/28/69 I. Introduction 1. The violence in the Syrian Arab Republic evolved from unrest in March 2011 into internal disturbances and the emergence of a non-international armed conflict in February 2012. The conduct of an ever-increasing number of actors is characterized by a complete lack of adherence to the norms of international law. 2. Since the outset, civilians have borne the brunt of the suffering inflicted by the warring parties. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed. Half of the country’s population have fled their homes, becoming refugees or internally displaced persons. The current needs outstrip the existing humanitarian response. Many people are hard to reach, making basic and essential protection efforts virtually impossible. 3. Since its establishment, the Commission of Inquiry1 has persistently drawn attention to atrocities committed across the country. In the present report, the Commission charts the major trends and patterns of human rights and humanitarian law violations perpetrated from March 2011 to January 2015, and draws from more than 3,556 interviews with victims and eyewitnesses in and outside of the country, collected since September 2011. 4. As access to the Syrian Arab Republic has been denied by the Government, the Commission relied primarily on first-hand witness accounts to corroborate its findings. Photographs, video recordings, satellite imagery, forensic and medical records formed the basis of the Commission’s conclusions. The correspondence between the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic and the commission is annexed to the present report (see annex I). 5. The Commission presents its findings on violations of international law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic between 15 July 2014 and 15 January 2015 (see annex II). The legal and factual findings made are based on 380 interviews conducted in the region and from Geneva. They should be read in conjunction with the commission’s previous reports. 2 The standard of proof used in previous reports remains applicable. II. Victim protection A. From unrest to war 1. Government forces 6. The violations committed at the outset of the unrest in 2011 continue to be perpetrated. This fact underlines the impunity with which the Government continues to operate. 7. As protests erupted in Dara’a city in March 2011, government forces opened fire on demonstrators. As the protests spread across the country, they were met with a violent, often lethal response from the Government. The Government maintained that the protesters fired at their forces, and provided a list of security forces allegedly killed at the protests. 1 2 The commissioners are Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chairperson), Karen Koning AbuZayd, Vitit Muntarbhorn and Carla del Ponte. S-17/2/Add.1, A/HRC/19/69, A/HRC/21/50, A/HRC/22/59, A/HRC/23/58, A/HRC/24/46, A/HRC/25/65 and A/HRC/27/60. 3