A grim catalogue of torture and other ill-treatment has emerged from Syria’s detention
centres in a year of unrest against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Largely peaceful demonstrations began sporadically in February 2011 but picked up
frequency after the first killings of demonstrators the following month. Since then, although
peaceful demonstrations have continued, the unrest has turned increasingly violent, with
armed opposition groups, many loosely under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army (FSA
carrying out attacks mainly against Syrian security forces.1 Amnesty International has
received the names of over 6,500 individuals reportedly killed during the unrest, most killed
by Syrian security forces during demonstrations.2 The Syrian authorities dispute these figures
and said in February 2012 that 2,493 civilians and 1,345 members of the security forces
had been killed since the start of the unrest