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Al Jazeera
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Syria's al-Sharaa extends deadline for investigation into coastal killings
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has extended the deadline for a committee to produce a report into the killings of hundreds of civilians on the country's western coast last month. Hundreds of Alawite civilians were killed in apparent retribution after fighting broke out between government forces and armed groups loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite religious sect. On March 9, al-Sharaa tasked a fact-finding committee with producing a report within 30 days that would help determine the perpetrators and hold them to account. In a decree published late on Thursday, the Syrian president said the committee had requested more time to complete its work and that he would grant it a non-renewable three-month extension. The sectarian violence prompted fears of a renewed civil war just months after al-Assad was toppled in December by opposition fighters led by al-Sharaa. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said in a preliminary report last month that 803 people were extrajudicially killed between March 6 and 10 in attacks that were primarily carried out in the Latakia, Tartous and Hama governorates. At least 39 children and 49 women were among those killed, SNHR said. In a report published on April 3, Amnesty International said its probe into the killings concluded that at least 32 of more than 100 people killed in Baniyas, a coastal town in Tartous governorate, were deliberately targeted on sectarian grounds. Amnesty said witnesses told the rights group that 'armed men asked people if they were Alawite before threatening or killing them and, in some cases, appeared to blame them for violations committed by the former government.' Diana Semaan, a Syria researcher at Amnesty, told the Reuters news agency that the fact-finding committee should be given 'adequate time, access and resources to carry out a thorough investigation'. 'What is crucial is that the work of the fact-finding committee is transparent and includes any new violations against minorities in the coastal area and other parts of Syria,' she said. But others expressed concern, including Alawite residents of the coastal province of Latakia, where much of the violence took place. Firas, a 43-year-old Alawite who only gave his first name out of fear of retribution, told Reuters that the extension was an attempt to 'stall and buy more time' and that he felt little hope the committee's work would lead to real accountability. In a statement on Friday, the committee's spokesperson, Yasser Farhan, said it recorded 41 sites where killings took place, each forming the basis for a separate case and requiring more time to gather evidence. He said some areas remained inaccessible due to time constraints, but that residents had cooperated, despite threats from pro-Assad remnants.
The National
30-03-2025
- Politics
- The National
Hama massacre survivors break 40-year silence
Iman wanted to give her father his slippers. As the plain-clothes security forces dragged him away, along with one of her male cousins, the 14-year-old girl followed. She begged the men to at least allow her relatives to cover their feet. 'We cried and ran after them, and asked them, 'please, give them slippers – their shahata,'' Iman Al Alwani, now 57, recalled. The armed men refused, and instead pulled out their guns. 'They shot a bullet at the door. There was a mark from it on the door, it came between me and the brick,' she told The National. 'I wanted to give him [my father] his slippers. They didn't let me.' It was midday on a Friday, at the end of February 1982, in the Syrian city of Hama, around 200km north of the capital Damascus. Hama had been besieged by men loyal to then-President Hafez Al Assad and his younger brother, Rifaat. He later gained the nickname the 'Butcher of Hama' for overseeing the forces who carried out mass killings, torture and destruction in the city. Pro-government troops had entered the city on the pretext of eliminating gunmen affiliated with Islamists that the Assad family saw as a threat to its rule. But the death and destruction they wrought on civilians and the city – much of it was destroyed – became one of the most striking examples of the Syrian state's violence against its own people. There are no exact death tolls from the massacre, which the former Assad regimes never investigated. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a non-profit organisation, puts the death toll at between 30,000 and 40,000 people and describes the events of February 1982 as, 'the most horrific single massacre in the country's modern history.' For years, the survivors stayed quiet, unable to speak about what they had witnessed. They feared reprisals from the Assad family's notorious intelligence services, both under Hafez and his son Bashar, who took power when his father died in 2000. 'They would throw you in prison if you spoke,' Iman said, sitting in her family home in Hama. 'Maybe they would kill you so you couldn't speak. We couldn't talk.' It is only now, after the end of more than 50 years of Assad dynasty rule in December, that survivors from the Hama massacre are able to speak out about what happened. 'This is the first time we feel able to speak,' Iman said. 'Before, we couldn't speak. We used to feel that the walls could hear us, and could write reports on us.' Iman searched for her father, Maan Abdul Latif Al Alwani, who was in his late 30s when he was taken, to no avail. A smartly dressed man with a finely-waxed moustache, Maan hailed from a family rich in capital, but poor in favour with the Assad regime. Family members said their property had been gradually confiscated since the 1970s, and handed out to regime loyalists. In the following days, Iman passed near a school being used as a makeshift prison, holding scores of men, but could not get close enough to see if her father and cousin were among the detainees. Two days later, the men disappeared. 'We never saw them again,' Iman said. One of her eight siblings, Hamzi Al Alwani, said the family later heard from eyewitnesses that Maan Al Alwani had been shot dead by pro-Assad forces, alongside other men. 'They were taken to a mass grave,' said Hamzi, now 52. Hamzi and Iman's cousin, Abulkader Al Alwani, can still recall the sounds from weapons used against the people of Hama. Fifteen years old in 1982, Mr Al Alwani remembers a narrow escape, fleeing while troops were distracted. His father and a brother were seized by the regime men. 'They made them say, 'There is no god but Hafez al-Assad and Rifaat al-Assad,' said Abdulkader, now a 58-year-old computer mathematics teacher. 'These words are still ringing in my ears, and I hear the bullets whizzing as they scattered the people.' The Al Alwani family was targeted because they were from an educated, landowning class that the Assad regime wished to erase, Abdulkader said. The Al Alwani cousins have documented at least 80 victims from 1982 from the extended family. The regime, 'wanted to give the impression that we were terrorists, extremists, and fanatics, but this is not true,' Abdulkader added. The experiences of those who survived Hama also highlight the generations of trauma in Syria. One of Iman's four brothers, Muhaid, joined the anti-government protests that broke out in 2011 against Bashar Al Assad, partly in protest at the relatives he lost nearly three decades earlier. The consequences were equal in their brutality. Muhaid, just two years old when his father was killed, had no memory of the violence of 1982, and refused to heed his siblings' warnings about the risks of joining the demonstrations. 'We screamed at him, 'Don't go out, we know what they did in the 1980s, don't go out,'' Iman said. 'He replied, 'I want to go out, I want to speak.'' Most of those who were protesting in 2011 from Hama had lost their fathers in the 1982 massacre, she added. Muhaid was arrested aged 32 in June 2012 when informants told regime security forces about his whereabouts, Iman said. The family gave money and gold to regime intermediaries to determine where he had been taken – a common practice among relatives of the tens of thousands of people missing in Syria's network of detention centres. Less than a year later, he was confirmed dead, having been incarcerated in the notorious Sednaya prison north of Damascus. The family never received his body. Following the Assad family's fall, human rights organisations are urging Syria's new transitional authorities to set up mechanisms to investigate massacres committed by the former regime, including the mass killings at Hama. In a report released last month, the Syrian Network for Human Rights urged the country's new authorities to set up a national investigative commission dedicated to accountability for Hama victims. The commission should present findings to the judicial authorities, along with clear recommendations about criminal prosecutions, compensation, and reparations to 'ensure justice and redress for the victims,' the SNHR report said. Hama survivors are aware that hundreds of thousands more people have gone missing or been killed since 1982. The scale of identifying all the victims from so many decades of loss is overwhelming, they believe. 'Today in Syria, there are 200,000 or 300,000 people buried in mass graves,' Hamzi said. 'Who feels able to identify who is who? If they were 5, 6, 10, you could find out this is so-and-so, that so-and-so. But for 200,000 or 300,000, a state is powerless over them.' All the same, they are determined to seek accountability for their lost loved ones, and see the fall of the Assad regime as an opportunity to overcome the brutality of the past. 'The Syrian people are peaceful people who love life,' Abdulkader said. 'We don't like violence. But we were brought monsters.'
The National
24-03-2025
- Politics
- The National
Syria's sectarian killing spree exposes challenges ahead for Al Shara
For more than a week, Hassan and his family were sheltering in a forest, too scared to return to their village in the countryside of Qardaha on Syria's coast. Their home lies in the heartland of the Alawite religious minority, the scene of sectarian-fuelled rampages earlier this month. Hassan has since returned to his house but remains holed up inside. While the situation may have calmed, the fear has not left them. 'Nowhere is safe,' he told The National by phone. He is afraid of arbitrary arrest at checkpoints. Sectarian insults and intimidation, he said, have become common. The violence began on March 6, when former Assad regime loyalists launched a multipronged assault on several security points along the coast – the most elaborate attack since a rebel coalition led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) toppled dictator Bashar Al Assad in December. As the new authorities sent reinforcements to the coast and called for a general mobilisation to quell the insurgency, unregulated groups that had recently joined the Ministry of Defence, along with individuals, exploited the chaos to seek revenge on the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islamists to which Mr Al Assad belongs, for the former regime's crimes. While Mr Al Assad had appointed most of his top officers from his community, Alawite regions have remained notoriously impoverished over the years, with much of the minority group saying it has also suffered under his iron-fisted rule. When Sunni rebel groups toppled the Assad regime, many Alawites said they were scared of being seen as responsible for crimes committed by Mr Al Assad, based only on their sectarian affiliation. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), the violence has killed more than 1,084 people. Government forces and affiliated elements killed 639 civilians and disarmed militants, while Assad remnants killed 445 people, including 213 soldiers and 231 civilians. The violence has revealed the arduous challenges ahead for the new authorities, which have vowed to protect minorities – a guarantee demanded by the international community in exchange for lifting sweeping sanctions – and restore stability after 14 years of civil war. 'I think what happened in many ways exposed the reality that the new government doesn't necessarily have command and control over all the different armed factions, let alone the fact that civilians were involved in this as well,' Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute, told The National. The integration of the complex web of factions that took part in the fall of the regime into a united and disciplined army has faced many hurdles, despite the new Syrian authorities announcing an agreement with all those armed groups for their dissolution in December. According to the SNHR, most of the killing has been committed by factions formerly affiliated with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), Sultan Suleiman Shah brigade and the Hamzat division, respectively led by Abu Amsha and Saif Abu Bakr, both under US sanctions for human rights abuse. Mr Zelin said these factions are not part of HTS's core forces. 'Of course, some HTS members were involved, including foreign fighters, but most of HTS has very good discipline. It was especially the involvement of SNA factions and random civilians – who lack this discipline – that led to the violence,' he said. He explained that the clashes occurred despite the new transitional government's efforts to contain sectarian revenge, which it knows will jeopardise any attempts at state building. For Mr Zelin, the unification of the new army and its control over the collection of factions are further complicated by the foreign agendas of some of these groups. 'The SNA is supported by Turkish funding and backing, which prevents Damascus from having real command and control,' he said. The SNA was created to fight the semi-autonomous Kurdish-led administration in north-eastern Syria, which Ankara views as a threat. 'Until that's resolved, the Syrian state is not going to fully control the SNA.' The recent sectarian turmoil has also revealed fault lines within Syrian society, which have so far been overlooked, human rights lawyer Nadim Houry said. 'Everyone talked about the need for justice and transitional justice mechanisms in Syria, but nothing concrete has been put in place.' HTS's initial strategy was to grant amnesty to all conscripts while vowing to hold those who had committed serious crimes accountable. But with the mammoth challenges facing the new government, transitional justice has not remained a top priority. 'The strategy was: you lay down your arms, you register yourselves, and then we'll stop at this – and afterwards, we'll deal with the worst criminals. Except that this next step never actually materialised,' Mr Houry said. 'This should be a wake-up call. Damascus needs to shift its approach to start a more inclusive transition process – but also to realise that if justice concerns are not addressed, it will fuel more violence. There's a narrow window of opportunity but the alternative is so far worse.' The clashes might also affect how the international community perceives the new Syrian government's ability to protect minorities, potentially further delaying the much-needed lifting of sanctions. HTS leader and interim President Ahmad Al Shara, a former rebel commander once affiliated with Al Qaeda, who has since distanced himself from the group, has shown strong pragmatism in his style of ruling, pledging to build an inclusive state as the country desperately seeks international recognition. But some have wondered if this new nationalistic stance was merely an opportunistic facade rather than representing any real transformation. The US, which has maintained far-reaching sanctions on Syria, condemned 'the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days'. Mr Zelin said that, ultimately, the clashes are unlikely to be a game-changer for the US regarding the lifting of sanctions, as "the Trump administration has been more or less uninterested in doing this before or after the massacres', he said. The EU has been more active in re-engaging with Damascus. Before the clashes, the EU had already lifted some sweeping sanctions on Syrian institutions on industries such as the energy, transport and financial sectors. Despite the recent surge in violence, Germany reopened its embassy to Syria on Thursday, which it closed 13 years ago when Mr Al Assad violently suppressed a popular uprising. A European diplomat told The National that while the turmoil 'has forced the international community to reconsider the rush to re-engage with the authorities in place', it was far from stopping the rapprochement altogether. 'The initial rush has calmed down. Now it's more of a wait-and-see approach,' the source said. The diplomat welcomed the creation of a committee to investigate the violence, announced by Mr Al Shara, who promised 'punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us'. 'Now, the new authorities are playing the game differently from the old regime: forming commissions, accepting criticism, opening the door to all kinds of investigations and monitoring … these actions taken by the government have made it easier to swallow the pill,' the European source said. The diplomat also hailed two major breakthroughs for Damascus in its effort to unify the country, which immediately followed the clashes. One was an agreement with the Kurdish-led militia in north-eastern Syria to join the new government, and the other a deal with the Druze community to merge the province of Suweida into the new state institutions. 'They are handling it pretty well – showing a co-operative face, managing the international community – now we'll have to see what happens next,' the source said.
Middle East Eye
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Notorious war criminals led bloody attacks on Syria's coast
As the bloodiest days since the new authorities took power in Damascus unfolded earlier this month, blame was quickly cast in multiple directions. Reports, however, soon surfaced revealing that key figures within deposed President Bashar al-Assad's war machine were behind the coordinated assault that sparked the ensuing violence. In a coordinated assault on Syria's western coast, attackers belonging to the Alawi sect targeted hospitals, security and police checkpoints, killing around 172 government security forces. They fortified roads, opened fire on vehicles with out-of-region plates, and killed over 200 civilians, according to the French-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). As a result, anger among armed factions in other parts of the country escalated, prompting fighters from former rebel groups, overwhelmingly Sunni, to raid the area seeking revenge and killing around 400 people, including civilians from Assad's Alawi sect, according to SNHR. "In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families, including women, children and individuals were killed," the United Nations said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters A few days later, the Syrian government announced the end of its operation after thwarting a plot to seize the coastal region by armed individuals linked to Assad. A Syrian Army fighter told Middle East Eye that the operation was "extremely challenging" as many Assad loyalists remained active as sleeper cells. "They disguise themselves as civilians, stay in their homes, and then move in groups to rural areas where they have hidden weapons to launch attacks," he said. "Things are improving, but the situation remains volatile, with some indiscriminate attacks still occurring." War criminals Alawis, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, were the backbone of the Assad government, leading the army, police, security forces, and key government positions, including sectarian militias. 'He was still a child': Grief and fear at Latakia hospital Read More » The Assad government killed approximately 200,000 civilians through bombings and massacres over 14 years of war and tortured around 15,000 detainees to death, according to SNHR. After his group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, toppled Assad, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed justice for the victims and accountability for war crimes. However, many extremist Alawi leaders and fighters refused to surrender. Their leader, Mikdad Fatiha, released videos in recent weeks threatening the new government. He later announced the formation of the "Coastal Shield Brigade", the group that seized 90 percent of the coast in the recent attack. Boasting about his crimes and urging Alawis to keep their weapons and continue fighting, he said in one of his videos, "I have seen more human viscera and internal organs than surgeons." Most of his videos, where he claimed responsibility for attacks, appeared to be filmed in rural coastal areas. Mercenary officers Although a statement circulated on social media, allegedly signed by former Brigadier General Ghiath Dala, claimed the formation of a Military Council to lead attacks against the new government, Dala himself has not claimed responsibility. Dala was the right-hand man of Assad's brother, Maher, who led the well-financed and Iranian-backed Fourth Division. He was based at Hama Airport and commanded the 42nd Tank Brigade, launching large-scale offensives against rebels. Before forming the Ghaith Forces, a unit of approximately 500 mercenaries, Dala played a key role in storming, massacring and arresting thousands of civilians in Darayya, al-Moadamiyah, Eastern Ghouta, and Daraa. His forces besieged towns, forcing residents to survive on tree leaves. Suhayl al-Hasan, a Russian-backed major general in the former Syrian Army, is also believed to be involved in the latest riots. Hasan, 55, was an officer in Air Security and has been sanctioned by the West for human rights violations. As the leader of the notorious mercenary Tiger Forces group, he pioneered the use of barrel bombs - explosive devices dropped from helicopters, causing massive destruction and indiscriminate civilian deaths. Official media used to portrayed him as an "undefeated warrior", making him a key figure in Assad's military campaigns. Widespread violations The new General Security forces announced the arrest of Ibrahim Huweija, the former head of Syria's General Security forces under Assad. Known as the "assassination engineer", he was accused of orchestrating hundreds of killings, including the assassinations of top Lebanese officials. Local media linked Huweija to the recent riots, though Middle East Eye could not verify the claims. A weekend from hell in coastal Syria Read More » As a presidential order to establish an independent committee to investigate the recent massacres, security forces also reported the arrest of several individuals seen celebrating the killings of civilians in coastal areas. "Barbaric forces entered the region and committed massacres under the pretext of pursuing remnants of the old regime," coastal-based activist Nagham Selman, told MEE. "The responsibility lies with the state. "Practices such as excluding segments of society, failing to build constructive dialogue… and dismissing employees are among the main drivers of anger in the area." Fadel Abdul Ghany, executive director of SNHR, told MEE that the core of the issue was the systematic targeting of security forces, which has led to widespread anger. Alawi civilians meanwhile said they had continued to face varying levels of sectarian violence leading up to the latest escalation, despite promises from Sharaa to create a system that includes Syria's mosaic of religious and ethnic groups. "The killings were motivated by religious divisions. Many targeted Sunni communities, just as campaigns targeted Alawis," he said. SNHR reported that at least 803 extrajudicial killings were committed over a few days by all sides involved in the clashes, including Assad loyalists, government forces, groups loosely affiliated with the Syrian government and individual gunmen. Ghany stressed that SNHR follows strict documentation protocols, requiring names, photos, and verification from relatives. "Even if the process takes longer, we prioritise accuracy above all else," he said.
Middle East Eye
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Over 800 extrajudicial killings documented in coastal Syria violence
The recent surge in violence in coastal Syria has resulted in at least 803 extrajudicial killings, a war monitor said in a new report. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), these killings were carried out by all sides involved in the clashes, including forces loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, government forces, groups loosely affiliated with the Syrian government and individual gunmen. In what has been the deadliest incident since Assad's fall in early December, SNHR said Assad loyalists killed 172 members of the Syrian government's security, police, and military forces, along with 211 civilians. Armed forces participating in the military operations, which the monitor says include 'factions and unregulated groups nominally affiliated with the Ministry of Defence', killed at least 420 civilians and disarmed fighters, including 39 children, 49 women and 27 medical personnel. SNHR clarified that it is not counting the deaths of non-state armed group members in clashes, as it considers these fatalities to be legal. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Serious violations' The report found that the Assad loyalist groups, who initiated the violence on Thursday, had carefully planned their attack and received training from military personnel who had served in the Assad government's forces prior to its downfall. 'The attacking groups demonstrated a high level of military training and expertise, which was evident in their use of advanced tactics such as road blockades, targeting supply lines, and isolating battlefronts,' the report read. Syrian Alawis sheltering in Lebanon say it isn't safe to return home Read More » These groups quickly overwhelmed the Syrian government's weak positions in the area and attacked government and civilian areas and properties. SNHR noted the targeting of cars with Idlib registration plates, as Idlib was the main opposition-held territory prior to the fall of Assad. As military confrontations escalated on Friday, the monitor said that 'the negative role of undisciplined armed groups supporting the authorities became apparent, as these forces were clearly not formally under the command of the ministries of defence and interior'. 'This resulted in a lack of control over these groups' actions, leading to their perpetrating violations against civilians and causing widespread damage to public and private property,' the report added. Civilians belonging to the Alawite sect, to which Assad and most of his loyalists belong, were particularly targeted in some of the attacks. When initially trying to retake areas captured by Assad loyalist remnants, Syrian government forces used artillery and rocket bombardments, resulting in additional civilian casualties. Executions and field killings were also documented, with entire families reportedly killed at times. 'Instances of direct clashes were also recorded between armed groups supporting the government's security forces on one side and elements of the Internal Security Forces who attempted to prevent indiscriminate killings on the other,' SNHR said. 'In some cases, these clashes escalated into armed confrontations between the two sides.' The report concluded that 'serious violations' took place over the four-day insurgency and held 'all parties' responsible for the bloodshed. It raised the alarm over increasing sectarianism in Syria and called for justice and accountability. In an interview with Reuters, Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that his government had begun implementing measures to reassure Alawite citizens and bring them back home following the violence. 'I sent many committees to reassure people and bring them back,' he said. 'A large number of them returned. They were afraid of something. But when we removed the factions and some of those [fighters] who entered randomly, we sent many committees to bring them back to the country. God willing, everyone will return.'
