Syrian civil war

Small vendors sell vegetables and fruits on carts throughout Jableh. Some families here, though, say they often go without breakfast and rely on diets of mainly pita bread, olives, tomatoes and parsley.

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Photos show double blow of war and earthquakes in regime-held Syria

8:46am March 04, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

NPR gained rare access to parts of Syria after last month's devastating earthquakes, photographing what life is like for people who were already coping with a years-long civil war.

In his 20s, with the hopes of becoming a foreign correspondent, Kevin Dawes - now 39, at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif. - traveled to Libya and then Syria where he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured.

An American was locked up in Syria. A pact with a British inmate may have saved him

4:09pm December 29, 2021

by Deborah Amos

Kevin Dawes describes how a fellow prisoner in Syria kept a promise that called attention to Dawes' detention. Now, five years after his release, Dawes is suing the Syrian regime.

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Syrian Oscar-nominated filmmaker Feras Fayyad answers journalists' questions outside a courtroom during a break in a trial against two Syrian defendants accused of state-sponsored torture in Syria, on April 23, in Koblenz, Germany.

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Syrian Filmmaker Speaks Out On Torture: 'I Was Holding This Pain For A Long Time'

2:33pm July 01, 2020

by Deborah Amos

Oscar-nominated documentary maker Feras Fayyad delivered the first witness testimony in a crimes against humanity trial against a former Syrian government official in Germany.

In a courtroom in the western German city of Koblenz, a former high-ranking Syrian intelligence officer, charged with crimes against humanity, will go to trial on Thursday.

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Suspects In Syrian Crimes Against Humanity Trial Will Face Accusers In German Court

4:13pm April 22, 2020

by Deborah Amos

In a first, Syrian witnesses and plaintiffs, some of whom survived torture in a Damascus prison, will see a former high-ranking Syrian official in court on charges of crimes against humanity.

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Syrians ride a motorcycle past a burnt vehicle near the northwest Syrian village of Barisha in the Idlib province of Syria, near where U.S. forces raided an ISIS compound.

The U.S. Investigates Possible Civilian Deaths During Baghdadi Raid In Syria

8:05pm March 13, 2020

The military is conducting a credibility assessment of claims of civilian casualties during the U.S. operation against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

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Omar Alshogre, a Syrian refugee who was tortured as a political prisoner in Syria, now lives in Sweden. He has framed photos of men who he says tortured him that he keeps upside down.

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How Europe Has Become The Epicenter For Syrian War Crimes Cases

5:08pm September 24, 2019

by Deborah Amos

An unprecedented legal battle against the regime is playing out in European courts, where large refugee communities and prosecutors can bring cases even for suspected crimes committed abroad.

Members of the Syrian community celebrate Syrian Independence Day during a ceremony at St. George Orthodox Church in Allentown, Pa., in April 2018.

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U.S. Extends Temporary Deportation Protection To Syrians

7:48pm August 01, 2019

by Richard Gonzales

The government's action grants thousands of Syrians in the U.S. an 18-month extension of a program allowing them to remain here. The State Department has said no part of Syria is safe from violence.

Pope Francis delivers his Christmas Day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Tuesday.

Pope Francis Calls For Fraternity In Christmas Day Address

3:58pm December 25, 2018

by Francesca Paris

The pope, an outspoken advocate for refugees and migrants, urged the international community to set aside its differences and turn its attention to crises around the world.

This photo released on Sept. 10 by the Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, shows smoke rising from an airstrike, in Hobeit village, near Idlib, Syria.

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Russia And Turkey Agree On A Demilitarized Zone In Syria's Last Rebel Stronghold

6:34pm September 17, 2018

The leaders of Russia and Turkey say they want to set up a buffer area in Idlib province by mid-October to avert a catastrophic military offensive.

Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, who survived torture in Syrian regime jail cells, is pictured in Berlin on March 1, 2017. He is among other Syrian torture survivors, lawyers and human rights groups who have filed criminal complaints in Germany alleging crim

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With Syria's War Nearly Over, Victims Take The Battle To European Courts

2:16pm August 13, 2018

by Deborah Amos

Syria's President Bashar Assad is on the verge of winning the war. But refugee activists are waging new battles against the regime from Europe.

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