Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

{{Short description|Information office documenting human rights abuses in the Syrian Civil War}}

{{Infobox website

| name = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)

| native_name = المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان

| native_name_lang = ar

| logo = SyrianObservatoryHRlogo.png

| logo_size = 175px

| caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

| type = News reporting

| founded = {{Start date|2006|5}}

| founder = Osama Suleiman (a.k.a. Rami Abdulrahman)

| location = Coventry, United Kingdom

| language = {{blist|Arabic|English}}

| language_count = 2

| international = Yes

| owner = Osama Suleiman (a.k.a. Rami Abdulrahman)

| key_people = Osama Suleiman{{cite news|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/syrische-beobachtungsstelle-fuer-menschenrechte-ominoese-protokollanten-des-todes-1.1522443|title=Syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte: Ominöse Protokollanten des Todes |trans-title=Syrian observatory for human rights: Ominous loggers of death|last=Schaible|first=Jonas|date=2012-11-26|work=Süddeutsche Zeitung|access-date=2017-12-11|language=de|issn=0174-4917|location=London}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.syriahr.com/en|syriahr.com}}

}}

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (also known as SOHR; {{langx|ar|المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان}}), founded in May 2006, is a United Kingdom-based information office whose stated aim is to document human rights abuses in Syria; since 2011 it has focused on the Syrian Civil War. It has been frequently quoted by major news outlets since the beginning of the war about daily numbers of deaths from all sides in the conflict{{cite news |url= http://www.asianage.com/international/26-civilians-killed-syria-friday-observatory-467 |title= 26 civilians killed in Syria on Friday: Observatory |date= 18 February 2012 |access-date= 11 June 2012 |work= The Asian Age |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180617165840/http://www.asianage.com/international/26-civilians-killed-syria-friday-observatory-467 |archive-date= 17 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.syriahr.com/ |title=Syrian Observatory for Human Rights |access-date=12 September 2012}} and particularly civilians killed in airstrikes in Syria.{{cite news |author= Abbas, Mohammed |editor=Golovnina, Maria |url= http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-syria-idUKTRE7B71XG20111208 |title= Coventry – an unlikely home to prominent Syria activist |work= Reuters |date= 8 December 2011 |access-date= 11 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120722035928/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/08/uk-britain-syria-idUKTRE7B71XG20111208 |archive-date= 22 July 2012 |url-status= dead}} The SOHR has been described as being "pro-opposition" and anti-Assad,{{efn|Attributed to multiple sources: {{cite magazine|title=Report: Almost 6,000 Dead in Syria During Geneva Talks|url=https://world.time.com/2014/02/17/report-almost-6000-dead-in-syria-during-geneva-talks/|magazine=Time|date=17 February 2014}}{{cite news|title=Syrian civil war: Jabhat al-Nusra's massacre of Druze villagers shows they're just as nasty as Isis|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/syrian-civil-war-jabhat-al-nusras-massacre-of-druze-villagers-shows-the-group-is-just-as-nasty-as-10318348.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/syrian-civil-war-jabhat-al-nusras-massacre-of-druze-villagers-shows-the-group-is-just-as-nasty-as-10318348.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Independent|date=13 June 2015}}{{cite news|title=Syrian opposition group accuses rebel unit of torture|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-torture-idUSBRE9380VI20130409|work=Reuters|date=9 April 2013}}{{cite news|title=Syrian rebels 'killed in army ambush near Damascus'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23600612|work=BBC|date=7 August 2013}}{{Cite web|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/10/14/isil-fights-syrian-rebels-near-aleppo-as-army-prepares-assault.html|title=ISIL fights Syrian rebels near Aleppo as army prepares assault|website=america.aljazeera.com}}{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.580112|title=Syrian Forces Take Last Rebel Stronghold on Lebanese Border|agency=Reuters|date=16 March 2014|work=Haaretz}}}} but has reported on war crimes committed by all sides of the conflict.

History and operations

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is run by "Rami Abdulrahman" (sometimes spelled as Rami Abdul Rahman), from his home in Coventry. Abdulrahman is a Syrian Sunni who owns a clothing shop. Born Osama Suleiman, he adopted a pseudonym during his years of activism in Syria and has used it publicly ever since.{{cite news|last=MacFarquhar|first=Neil|title=A Very Busy Man Behind the Syrian Civil War's Casualty Count|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/world/middleeast/the-man-behind-the-casualty-figures-in-syria.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 April 2013|access-date=31 May 2013|archive-date=2017-01-14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170114031830/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/world/middleeast/the-man-behind-the-casualty-figures-in-syria.html |url-status=live}} After being imprisoned three times in Syria, Abdulrahman fled to the United Kingdom fearing a fourth jail term and has not returned.

In a December 2011 interview with Reuters, Abdulrahman claimed the observatory has a network of more than 200 people and that six of his sources had been killed. In 2012, Süddeutsche Zeitung described the organisation as a one-man-operation with Abdulrahman its only permanent member. In April 2013, The New York Times described him as being on the phone all day everyday with contacts in Syria, relying on four individuals inside the country who collate information from more than 230 activists, while cross-checking all information with sources himself.

Accuracy and independence

Neil Sammonds, a British researcher for the London-based Amnesty International, said, "Generally, the information on the killings of civilians is very good, definitely one of the best, including the details on the conditions in which people were supposedly killed."

The organisation says on its website that "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is not associated or linked to any political body."{{Cite web |date=6 September 2014 |title=About Us • The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/?page_id=1030}}

SOHR has been described as being "pro-opposition" or anti-Assad and has been criticised for refusing to share its data or methodology.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/12/03/200000-dead-why-syrias-rising-death-toll-is-so-divisive/ Adam Taylor: "200,000 dead? Why Syria’s rising death toll is so divisive" 3 December 2014], washingtonpost.com Accessed 20 February 2018 It has been also criticised for selective reporting, covering only violent acts of the government forces against the opposition for the first two years of its existenceAsiaNews: [http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Massacres-by-Islamic-extremists-bolster-Bashar-al-Assad-28219.html Massacres by Islamic extremists bolster Bashar al-Assad], 17 June 2013, retrieved 8 July 2013 and reporting anti-government fighter deaths as civilians deaths.[http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/syria-contextualized-numbers-game Syria Contextualized. By Musa al-Gharbi Middle East Policy Council Spring 2013, Volume XX, Number 1]

Classified U.S. diplomatic cables, provided by the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks, showed that the U.S. State Department has funneled $6 million to Barada TV, an anti-Assad satellite TV channel operated by people affiliated with SOHR, between 2006 and 2011 to operate the satellite channel and finance activities inside Syria, The Washington Post reported in 2011.{{cite news |last=Whitlock |first=Craig |date=18 April 2011 |title=U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-secretly-backed-syrian-opposition-groups-cables-released-by-wikileaks-show/2011/04/14/AF1p9hwD_story.html |accessdate=18 July 2014 |work=The Washington Post}}{{cite news |last=Morrison |first=Sarah |date=19 April 2011 |title=UK-based Syrian TV station denies secret funding from US government |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukbased-syrian-tv-station-denies-secret-funding-from-us-government-2269730.html |work=The Independent |location=London}} In 2013, the New York Times reported that Rami Abdulrahman had received small subsidies from the European Union and one European country. Medialens said that journalist Ian Sinclair confirmed "in communication with the Foreign Office" that "the UK funded a project worth £194,769.60 to provide the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights with communications equipment and cameras."[http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2018/872-the-syrian-observatory-funded-by-the-foreign-office.html The Syrian Observatory - Funded By The Foreign Office], 4 June 2018, Medialens