Details of the Civilian Abuse in the Syrian Civil War

The Syrian Civil War started in 2011. There was a protest against the President of Syria, and they were violently suppressed. That acted as the spark to ignite the conflict. The war has been growing in violence for 7 years now. It is a multi-sided war with the Syrian government and international allies, Sunni Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist groups, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant all taking sides. There are also a number of countries surrounding Syria that are getting involved. For more info on Civilian Crisis in Syria, click this website. Some countries are fighting in battles while others are just offering support to a group already in the conflict. 

There are international laws set up and maintained by the United Nations that pertain to war crimes. Some of these laws pertain to the treatment of civilians during a war. A lot of civilians are being injured, attacked, killed, or forced to become refugees as a result of the conflict. There are also a large number of civilians that are missing. Infractions of international civilian wartime laws have been committed by both sides in this conflict.
The ways that the laws have been broken are numerous. Children, medical personnel, and hospital patients have been killed. Children and hospital patients have been tortured (sometimes to death). Arrest without cause, deploying tanks in densely populated areas, and the heavy shelling in civilian areas are also happening. People are disappearing and groups are being collectively punished for crimes they had no part in committing. Property is being destroyed and looted on a grand scale. In some areas, food, water, and medical treatment are being denied to people.
More crimes still include the use of child soldiers. An army (usually the rebel army) will kidnap children from their families, or kill their families, and raise them in the army. These children know no other family or upbringing than war and fighting, so they grow up to be effective soldiers who are devoted to their cause. For more info on Civilian Crisis in Syria,click here to  view here for more. These children are forced to kill and torture people as a way to indoctrinate them into certain beliefs.
Minorities in Syria are also at high risk for crimes being committed against them. The largest groups of minorities are non-Muslims, mainly Christians. While there are people calling for charges to be pressed and tried by the International Criminal Court, it is hard to pursue. The ICC has no jurisdiction in Syria, and getting jurisdiction would take a long time. Prosecution outside of the ICC would mean setting up an ad hoc tribunal. This would take Syrians and non-Syrians as part of the trial. This may happen in the future but has not yet. Learn more about Civilian Crisis in Syria from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War.