30 October 2017•Update: 31 October 2017
By Mohamed Sheikh Yusuf
ASTANA
More than 100,000 people have been detained inside war-torn Syria since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011, according to a London-based NGO.
In a statement on Monday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said some 106,727 people have been held since March 2011.
It said the Syrian regime was responsible for the sweeping majority of detentions in the war-ravaged country.
The NGO said 13,104 people were tortured to death since March 2011, including 166 children and 57 women. “The Syrian regime is responsible for torturing 12,986 people to death,” it added.
The report was released as a new round of peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian conflict began in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on Monday.
The talks, which focus on strengthening the cease-fire that came into effect on Dec. 30, are brokered by Turkey, which backs the opposition, and Russia and Iran, who support Bashar regime.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN.
