Massacres on the Syrian coast: The national commission submits its report to Sharaa

L'Orient-Le Jour

20-07-2025

Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa received on Sunday the full report from the 'independent' National Commission tasked with investigating the deadly events that took place along Syria's coastline in early March, the presidency announced in a statement.
The clashes, which erupted between militias loyal to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad and the new Syrian security forces, resulted in over 1,000 deaths, including many Alawite and Christian civilians who were victims of executions and massacres.
In the statement, the presidency said that the commission — established on March 9, just days after the bloody events in western Syria — was created to ensure that Syria 'moves forward on a path where neither violations nor attempts to cover up the truth have any place,' whether regarding what happened on the coast or any other situation across the country, from north to south.
Report delivered after more than 90 days
The commission is composed of five judges, a military officer and a lawyer — most of whom were formerly part of the Syrian Constitutional Committee based in Geneva. Its mandate was to investigate the causes of the outbreak of violence, the atrocities committed against civilians and violations against institutions and state personnel.
The five judges are Jomaa el-Anzi, Khaled Helou, Ali Naassan, Alaeddine Youssef and Hanadi Abou Arab. The officer is Awad el-Ali and the lawyer is Yasser Farhan.
The presidency expressed its 'gratitude for the sincere efforts of the commission members,' stating that it would review the report's conclusions 'with the utmost seriousness and attention' in order to take the necessary measures to promote truth, justice and accountability — and to prevent the recurrence of similar violations, both in this case and more broadly in the process of building the 'new Syria.'
Although the commission was originally required to submit its findings within 30 days of its creation, by early April, the report was only delivered after more than 90 days, against the backdrop of renewed violence in the country's south.
In the province of Sweida, deadly clashes have broken out between Druze fighters and rival groups. The Syrian government announced a ceasefire overnight Saturday into Sunday, which was immediately broken by renewed Druze mobilization. The fighting, which erupted on July 13 between Druze factions and Sunni Bedouin groups, has left over 1,000 people dead.
'In respect of the Syrian people's right to know the truth,' the presidency called on the national commission 'to organize a press conference to present its work and main findings,' in a manner that respects the dignity of the victims, ensures the integrity of judicial procedures, and preserves evidence for it to be held as soon as practically possible.