Latest news with #Mediterraneancoast
The Australian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Australian
UN report: Pro-govt forces committed mass killings in Syria's coast
A UN human-rights commission probing sectarian violence in Syria found that pro-government forces committed systematic and widespread crimes against civilians earlier this year, but uncovered no evidence that the country's new government orchestrated the attacks. The 66-page report, released Thursday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, focused on violence against Syria's Alawite communities along the Mediterranean coast in March. The report extensively detailed abuses including murder, torture and abductions amid clashes that erupted between gunmen loyal to the deposed Assad regime and state security forces and militias allied with the government. Hundreds of Alawites were killed as the violence swiftly descended into sectarian revenge attacks that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. It was some of the worst violence since Assad was overthrown by a rebel coalition in December. The U.N. report documented how armed groups went door to door in a number of locations to identify Alawite men. The men were separated from their families and then taken outside to be shot. Alawite women and children were also killed, the report found. Bodies were left in the streets for days, it said. The commission identified several armed groups aligned with Syria's government whose fighters allegedly perpetrated many atrocities. It also found that atrocities were committed by pro-Assad forces and said more needed to be done to bring those responsible to justice. 'The scale and brutality of the violence documented in our report is deeply disturbing,' said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, who chaired the commission. 'While dozens of alleged perpetrators of violations have reportedly since been arrested, the scale of the violence documented in our report warrants expanding such efforts.' Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hasan Al-Shaibani welcomed the report and said, 'We take serious note of the alleged violations committed during that period.' The United Nations-backed commission said it continued to receive reports of ongoing killings, abductions and arbitrary arrests of members of the Alawite community. The Alawites are a religious minority to which former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs. They sometimes occupied prime slots in the deposed regime but also suffered subjugation by the Assads along with Syria's other ethnic and religious minorities. Questions around the new Sunni Islamist government's involvement in the killings or its inability to protect the Alawites deepened a sense of mistrust among Syria's minorities at a time when the new leaders are struggling to consolidate their control and unify the country. Sectarian clashes erupted last month in southern Syria between ethnic Druze and Arab Bedouin. Druze accused government forces of colluding with the Bedouin. The area remains tense. Syria's government has vowed to hold perpetrators of sectarian violence accountable. Last month, a government investigatory committee reported that it had preliminarily found 298 people from military factions and 265 linked to armed militias with ties to the Assad regime who committed sectarian attacks. On Thursday, the U.N. commission welcomed the government's actions but stressed that more needs to be done to bring justice and prevent future attacks. Dow Jones The Wall Street Journal Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says construction plan 'finally buries the idea,' as Australia, France, UK prepare to recognise statehood. The Wall Street Journal Europe's largest wave of prisoner exchanges since World War II was set in motion when a Ukrainian soldier reached into the pocket of a dead Russian officer and found a phone.
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
U.N. Report Finds Widespread Killing by Syrian Government Allies Earlier This Year
A U.N. human-rights commission probing sectarian violence in Syria found that pro-government forces committed systematic and widespread crimes against civilians earlier this year, but uncovered no evidence that the country's new government orchestrated the attacks. The 66-page report, released Thursday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, focused on violence against Syria's Alawite communities along the Mediterranean coast in March. The report extensively detailed abuses including murder, torture and abductions amid clashes that erupted between gunmen loyal to the deposed Assad regime and state security forces and militias allied with the government.
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
UN commission finds violence against Syria Alawites likely included 'war crimes'
The violence in March unfolded along Syria's predominantly Alawite Mediterranean coast, where security personnel and their allies were accused of carrying out summary executions, mostly targeting civilians from the religious minority, with a war monitor saying more than 1,700 people were killed. The Syrian foreign ministry said it was committed to "incorporating the (commission's) recommendations into the ongoing process of institution-building" and of consolidating the rule of law. The UN commission said in its report on Thursday that the violence committed by "members of the interim government forces and private individuals operating alongside or in proximity to them... followed a systematic pattern across multiple, widespread locations". "The violations included acts that likely amount to war crimes," it said. The commission documented cases of "murder, torture and inhumane acts related to the treatment of the dead, widespread looting and burning of homes all of which displaced tens of thousands of civilians". Syria's new authorities have accused gunmen loyal to ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad of instigating the violence by launching deadly attacks that killed dozens of security personnel. The UN commission also found that pro-Assad forces were implicated in the violence. 'Deeply disturbing' Human rights groups and international organisations have said entire families were killed, including women, children and the elderly. Gunmen stormed homes and asked residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before killing or sparing them, they said. The UN commission documented similar cases involving the killing of Alawite men. During his rule, Assad -- himself an Alawite -- cultivated an image as a defender of minorities, even as his authoritarian tendencies plunged the country into civil war. Since his December ouster at the hands of Islamist-led rebels, the violence on the coast and in south Syria's Druze heartland have raised questions about the new authorities' ability to provide security and manage sectarian tensions. The UN commission -- which said it had been granted "unfettered access" to the area by the post-Assad government -- based its findings on more than 200 interviews with victims and witnesses. It said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that members of the security forces and other private individuals engaged in "serious violations of international human rights law". "The scale and brutality of the violence documented in our report is deeply disturbing," said commission chair Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, urging accountability and expanded efforts to arrest perpetrators. 'Serious note' The commission said it "continues to receive information about ongoing violations in many of the affected areas, including abductions of women, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances". It said it had "found no evidence of a governmental policy or plan" to carry out the attacks, though their systematic nature "in certain locations may be indicative of an organisational policy within certain factions or groups". In a letter to the commission, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the government took "serious note of the alleged violations", saying they "appear to be consistent with the findings" of the Syrian inquiry. US envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack called the report "a serious step towards definable and traceable metrics to the Syrian government's responsibility, transparency and accountability". The commission said it was also investigating recent violence in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province that it said highlighted the urgency of implementing the report's recommendations. In its own inquiry, the committee formed by the Syrian authorities documented "serious violations against civilians" in March.
