The villages of Bayda and Banias are majority Sunni, while the areas surrounding them are largely Alawite the religious minority to which Assad belongs.
The deaths were denounced at the time by the Syrian opposition as a “sectarian massacre”.
HRW said that most of those killed were executed after military clashes between rebels and government forces had ended.
In Bayda, “the forces entered homes, separated men from women, rounded up the men of each neighbourhood in one spot, and executed them by shooting them at close range,” the group said.
“Human Rights Watch also documented the execution of at least 23 women and 14 children, including infants,” the report said.
HRW said witnesses described pro government forces burning dozens of dead bodies, as well as burning and looting homes after the executions.
The report said that both regular government troops and members of the pro-regime militia known as the National Defence Force had taken part in the killings.
“In some cases, government and pro-government forces executed, or attempted to execute, entire families,” the group said.
In one case documented in Bayda, 26 members of one family nine men, three women and 14 children were executed.
The sole survivor was a three year old girl who was reportedly wounded by three bullets, but lived.
HRW called on the United Nations to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and insist that Damascus cooperate with a UN inquiry.
“The Security Council has the opportunity to deter future killings not just by chemical weapons, but by all means and by all parties by referring the situation to the ICC,” Stork said
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