Syrian Network for Human Rights

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR, الشبكة السورية لحقوق الإنسان) is a UK-based independent monitoring group, which monitors casualties and briefs various United Nations agencies. It monitors Syrian casualties of all the parties in the Syrian civil war. The SNHR was founded in June 2011 by Fadel Abdul Ghany, who is the chairman of the board of directors. Members have been detained, and many now live outside Syria.

Its reports have been cited by news media, non-governmental organizations, as well as by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Accuracy
In 2018, The Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC) counted nearly 9,500 deaths in detention since 2011, compared to over 13,000 counted by the SNHR. The VDC acknowledged its estimates were more conservative than the SNHR as its methodology was to only document deaths once information like the name of the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths were confirmed.

As of May 2019, according to the SNHR, nearly 128,000 people have never emerged from Bashar al-Assad's secret network of prisons – and nearly 14,000 were killed by torture. The New York Times reported that the SNHR's tally, described as the most rigorous, was probably an undercount. Anne Barnard of The New York Times was asked how the SNHR compiled their figures. Barnard said the reason they were considered the most rigorous and reliably conservative numbers is their numbers were actual counts of reports they received, and they were not extrapolations or estimates. Barnard said a death had to be reported by a family member or a direct witness and they did not take third party accounts. She added that they took phone calls and had a form on their website, and then they went through and verified what they could in the detailed report. They also went back and called people listed as possible family members of people who were missing for a long time to find out if they were still missing.

It has been used a source in reports by Amnesty International and the US State Department.

Governance
SNHR is registered as a non-profit limited liability company in the United Kingdom, and a non-profit organization in the United States. It is governed by a board of directors with five members and its executive director manages seven divisions. As of 2019, it has 27 full-time employees as well as over 70 volunteers.