The children were ultimately released “bruised and bloodied after severe torture in detention,” according to Human Rights Watch, which interviewed dozens of local witnesses and reviewed video footage of the surrounding events. UN human rights investigators documented 350,209 conflict deaths between March 2011 and March 2021, of which an estimated 306,887 were civilians. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated the total 14-year fatality figure to have been nearly 657,000. Assad and his brother fled to Russia in December 2024 and received political asylum; Syria’s transitional authorities have asked Moscow to hand them over. Syrian courts do not publish judgments, and no written decision in the case has been released as of the time of publication.