Rights group: 634 journalists killed in Syria since 2011

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said Thursday that 634 journalists and citizen journalists have been killed in Syria since 2011.

In a statement, the group said: “On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, we demand justice for the souls of at least 634 citizen journalists.”

The network said the number of journalists who had been killed in Syria over the past seven years “reflects an unprecedented level of violence and violations against journalists and citizen journalists in Syria since the start of the popular uprising for freedom in March 2011.”

According to the statement, the Syrian regime has been the primary perpetrator of crimes against journalists, responsible for 83 per cent of crimes committed against them.

According to the group, regime forces have killed 526 individuals while Russian forces killed 16.

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“Militant groups killed 52 people, including 46 people killed by Daesh, and six killed by Al-Nusra Front while the armed opposition groups killed 21.”

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) killed 16 journalists.

The network documented approximately 1,124 cases of arrests and kidnappings of journalists by all parties, and at least 408 cases of missing or forcibly disappeared journalists.