[JURIST] The Syria Accountability Project (SAP) of Syracuse University College of Law [academic websites] on Thursday released a report [materials] detailing statistics of extensive rape that has occurred throughout the civil war in Syria over the past six years. The report, which was compiled using international legal standards [SU news report] and will be distributed to the UN [official website] and other international legal organizations, found that 142 incidents of rape have occurred affecting at least 483 Syrian women and girls throughout the country. The report also found that of the 142 incidents, 62 percent of the incidents were committed by members of the Syrian regime, while another 23 percent were committed by the regime’s affiliate, Shabiha. It also made note of the fact that the majority of rapes during the civil war have gone unreported because of religious and social stigmas that make it difficult for victims to come forward. The report was primarily authored by SAP Executive Director Peter Levrant, a JD candidate (2017) at SU Law.

The Syrian Civil War [JURIST backgrounder] has been ongoing since 2011 when opposition groups first began protesting the regime of President Assad, and the increasingly bloody nature of the conflict has put pressure on the international community to intervene. Last week Salem al-Muslet, leader of the main faction opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said [JURIST report] that Assad and various security officials must leave office for his faction to agree to a transitional government. Earlier in March Amnesty International reported [JURIST report] that Russian and Syrian armed forces are deliberately attacking hospitals and other medical facilities as part of a military strategy to clear the way to northern Aleppo. Just prior, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed two resolutions calling for an international tribunal in the Middle East to address [JURIST report] the alleged war crimes committed by the government of Syria and its allies, specifically Russia and Iran.