As opposition militias began capturing vast swathes of territory throughout 2012, the United Nations officially declared the clashes in Syria as a civil war in June 2012.

[35][36] The unprecedented violence led to global backlash, with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) convening an emergency session on 29 April and tasking a fact-finding mission to investigate the scale of atrocities in Syria.

The investigation by the commission concluded that the Syrian Arab Army, secret police and Ba'athist paramilitaries engaged in massacres, forced disappearances, summary executions, show-trials, torture, assassinations, and persecution and abductions of suspects from hospitals, amongst others, with an official "shoot-to-kill" policy from the government.

The UNHRC report published on 18 August stated that the atrocities amounted to crimes against humanity, with High Commissioner Navi Pillai urging Security Council members to prosecute al-Assad in the International Criminal Court.

A second emergency session convened by the UNHRC on 22 August condemned the Assad government's atrocities and called for an immediate cessation of all military operations and engagement in Syrian-led political process, with numerous countries demanding al-Assad's resignation.

In September 2010, The Economist newspaper described Syrian government as "the worst offender among Arab states", that engaged in imposing travel bans and restricted free movement of people.

[45] For decades, the Syrian economy, army and government had been dominated patronage networks of Ba'ath party elites and Alawite clients loyal to Assad family.

[46] The persistence of corruption, sectarian bias, nepotism and widespread bribery that existed in party, bureaucracy and military led to popular anger that resulted in the large-scale protests of the Revolution.

[58] The Syrian Arab Army was soon deployed to shoot at the protests; resulting in a popular resistance movement led by locals; which made Daraa one of the first provinces in Syria to break free of regime control.

[64] The events led to a "Friday of Dignity" on 18 March, when large-scale protests broke out in several cities, including Banias, Damascus, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir az-Zor, and Hama.

In his public address delivered on 30 March, Assad said said "conspirators" were pushing an "Israeli agenda",[69] condemned the protests as a "foreign plot" and described those who were killed by the firing as a "sacrifice for national stability", sparking widespread outcry.

[76] The regime also deployed the dreaded Shabiha death squads, consisting of fervent Alawite loyalists, that were ordered to execute sectarian attacks on the protestors, torture Sunni demonstrators and engage in anti-Sunni rhetoric.

[81] State propaganda of the Alawite-dominated Baathist regime has attempted to portray any pro-democracy protests, that calls for political pluralism and civil liberties, as "a project to sow sectarian strife.

[86] The government announced it would release political prisoners, cut taxes, raise the salaries of public sector workers, provide more press freedoms, and increase job opportunities.

[103][104] On 20 May, security forces and Ba'athist militants based on a party training camp Al-Mastumah village in Idlib massacred a rally of peaceful demonstrators by firing without warning, killing 30 and injuring about 200.

[118] On 31 July, a nationwide crackdown, known as the "Ramadan Massacre", launched by Syrian military forces in towns, cities and villages across the country resulted in the killings of at least 142 people and hundreds of injuries.

Gunboats fired heavy machine guns at waterfront districts in Latakia, as ground troops and security agents backed by armor stormed several neighborhoods.

[122] The Eid ul-Fitr celebrations, started in near the end of August, were suppressed by Assad government after Ba'athist military forces fired on large demonstrations in Homs, Daraa, and the suburbs of Damascus.

Heavy fighting renewed with a major rebel offensive in the northwest led by Tahrir al-Sham and supported by allied groups in the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in November 2024, during which Aleppo, Hama and Homs were seized.

The unprecedented brutality of Assad regime's crackdown on Syrian civilians resulted in global outcry and aroused strong condemnation from international bodies like the Arab League, United Nations, European Union, etc.

An investigative mission appointed by the UN found the Assad regime responsible for mass-killings, assassinations, abductions, forced disappearances and other war crimes; as a result of a shoot to kill policy directly ordered by the government.

During the second emergency session on 18 August, several member states of the Human Rights Council demanded the resignation of Assad, while other countries called on Syrian government to immediately cease all its crackdown efforts and initiate dialogue for a political solution with the protestors.

Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, the rebel militia sought the defence of civilians from army shootings and eventually remove Bashar al-Assad from power.

Since demonstrations began in March, the Assad government has imposed a complete media blackout banning independent news coverage, barring foreign free press outlets and arresting reporters who try to cover protests.

A pro-Assad hacker group called the Syrian Electronic Army had frequently hacked websites to post Ba'athist propaganda, and the Assad government has been implicated in malware attacks targeted at those reporting on the crisis.

[142][143][144] Amnesty International organization reported on 6 July 2011 that the Syrian government's violent repression of the inhabitants of the town of Talkalakh amounted to a "systematic campaign of crimes against humanity".

[145] On 9 July, Human Rights Watch organization published a report confirming that Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers were ordered by the Assad government to shoot protestors during demonstrations, as well as take part in arbitrary detentions.

"[152] On 3 August, the United Nations Security Council denounced Assad government's violent repression of protests and issued a statement condemning "the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities".

[153] In a joint statement of its member states released on 6 August, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grouping denounced "mounting violence and the excessive use of force which resulted in killing and wounding large numbers" and "express[ed] sorrow for the continuous bloodshed".

[156] On 24 November, a Reuters news dispatch reported U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group Two operating off the coast of Syria to monitor the ongoing Syrian uprising, with an unnamed Western diplomat in the region noting: "It is probably routine movement.