Syria recorded 68,000 deaths in 2017

Beirut : Syria’s civil registries recorded 68,000 deaths in the war-torn country in 2017, pro-regime daily Al-Watan reported its head as saying. “Last year, we confirmed 68,000 without specifying the nature of their death and 32,000 this year,” civil registries chief Ahmad Rahal said. He did not provide any additional details about those who had died, including in what part of Syria they had lost their lives or whether they had been victims of the ongoing conflict.

Thursday’s news come after activists accused authorities of quietly updating civil records to mark detainees in regime jails as “deceased” -- some backdated by several years. Relatives and advocates say they are often tortured, denied a fair trial, and deprived of contact with their families. “If a document comes through from any government body -- whether a hospital or another -- to confirm a death, it is confirmed without specifying if they were missing or not.” The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented around 400 cases in recent months.