Latest news with #UNCommissionofInquiryonSyria
The Star
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Vanished without a trace
'DON't wait for her,' the WhatsApp caller told the family of Abeer Suleiman on May 21, hours after she vanished from the streets of Safita, a town in Syria's coastal heartland. 'She's not coming back.' The kidnapper and another man, identifying himself as an intermediary, said the 29-year-old would either be killed or trafficked unless her relatives paid a ransom of US$15,000. 'I am not in Syria,' Abeer herself told her family in a call on May 29, using the same Iraqi phone number as her captors. 'All the accents around me are strange.' Reuters reviewed the recording, along with other calls and messages from the abductor and intermediary, who also used a Syrian number. Abeer is among at least 33 women and girls from Syria's Alawite sect – aged between 16 and 39 – who have disappeared this year amid the chaos following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. That's according to the families of every one of them. The overthrow of Assad in December, after 14 years of civil war, unleashed a wave of revenge against the Alawites, the Muslim minority from which he hails. Armed factions aligned with Syria's new government turned on Alawite civilians in March, killing hundreds. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria says it is investigating the spike in reports of missing Alawite women. Its chair, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, told the UN Human Rights Council in June that the abductions of at least six women had been documented. Two remain missing. The commission has also received credible reports of further cases. Abeer's family scraped together her ransom, borrowing from neighbours to transfer US$15,000 in 30 installments via accounts in the Turkish city of Izmir. Once the money was paid in full on May 28, contact ceased. The kidnappers' phones went dark. Abeer's family has heard nothing since. A fighter of the ruling Syrian body standing while holding a weapon, after violence in Tartous province. — Reuters Interviews with the families of 16 of the missing found that seven were abducted for ransom – demands ranged from US$1,500 to US$100,000. Three, including Abeer, managed to get messages to their families saying they'd been taken abroad. There's been no word on the other nine. Many are under 18. Reuters reviewed messages, calls and ransom receipts linked to the abductions but could not verify every detail or confirm the identities or motives of the perpetrators. All 33 women disappeared in the governorates of Tartous, Latakia and Hama, Alawite community heartlands. Nearly half have since returned home. None would speak publicly – many cited fears for their safety. Most families said police dismissed their cases or failed to investigate thoroughly. Pinheiro confirmed that Syria's interim authorities had opened some investigations but gave no details. The Syrian government did not respond to requests for comment. Ahmed Mohammed Khair, a media officer for the Tartous governor, claimed most cases stemmed from family disputes or women running away to avoid forced marriages. A media officer in Latakia echoed this view. Hama's authorities declined to comment. A fact-finding committee set up by Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to probe the March killings of Alawites declined to discuss the missing women. Rights advocate Yamen Hussein, tracking the disappearances, said the pattern began in earnest after March's violence. As far as he knew, only Alawite women were being targeted. The identities and motives of the perpetrators are unclear. Alawites, who follow an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, make up about 10% of Syria's predominantly Sunni population. Hussein said fear has gripped Alawite communities. Some women now avoid school or college, fearing abduction. 'For sure, we have a real issue here where Alawite women are being targeted,' Hussein said. 'Targeting women of the defeated party is a humiliation tactic that was used in the past by the Assad regime.' Thousands of Alawites have been displaced from Damascus, others fired from their jobs or harassed at checkpoints run by Sunni factions now aligned with the government. Family accounts suggest most women vanished in daylight, running errands or travelling on public transport. Zeinab Ghadir, 17, disappeared on her way to school on Feb 27. Her kidnapper texted the family from her phone: 'I don't want to see a single picture or, I swear to God, I will send you her blood.' Zeinab made a brief, frightened call saying she didn't know where she was and felt unwell. She hasn't been heard from since. Khozama Nayef, 35, was abducted in rural Hama in March by five men who drugged her and held her for 15 days while they negotiated a US$1,500 ransom. After her release, her family said she suffered a mental breakdown. Days later, Doaa Abbas, 29, was grabbed outside her home in Salhab, Hama. A relative chased the abductors' car on a motorbike but lost them. Three Alawite women reported missing this year later resurfaced publicly denying abduction. One, a 16-year-old from Latakia, claimed she ran away to marry a Sunni man. Her family insists she was forced and that authorities coerced her into recanting to protect her kidnappers. Two others, a 23-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl, told Arabic TV they had travelled willingly to Aleppo and Damascus respectively. One later claimed she was beaten by a man before escaping. For decades, Alawites dominated Syria's political and military elites under the Assad dynasty. But Assad's fall ushered in a government led by HTS, a Sunni group with roots in al-Qaeda. It is trying to integrate former rebels, including foreign fighters, into the security forces to fill the void left by Assad's collapsed army. Families fear history repeating. Many dread that Alawite women could suffer the fate inflicted on Yazidi women by Islamic State a decade ago: mass abduction, trafficking and sexual slavery. Nagham Shadi's family lives in that terror. The 23-year-old vanished in June after leaving home in al-Bayadiyah, Hama, to buy milk. Her father, Shadi Aisha, said his family had already been forced from their previous village in March's anti-Alawite violence. 'What do we do? We leave it to God,' he said. — Reuters
The Sun
28-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Amnesty urges Syria to probe Alawite women abductions
BEIRUT: Amnesty International has called on Syrian authorities to investigate the abduction of 36 Alawite women and girls, citing credible reports of kidnappings in recent months. The rights group urged accountability for perpetrators amid ongoing instability following the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. The report follows massacres in March in Syria's coastal Alawite heartland, where a monitor estimated 1,700 people, mostly Alawite civilians, were killed. A committee investigating the violence last week said it had not received reports of abductions involving women or girls. Amnesty documented eight cases of abductions in Latakia, Tartus, Homs, and Hama provinces since February. Families reported the incidents, but authorities failed to conduct effective investigations in nearly all instances. In two cases, officials reportedly blamed the victims' families. Only two of the eight abducted women and girls have returned home. 'The Alawite community, already devastated by previous massacres, has been deeply shaken by this wave of abductions. Women and girls are afraid to leave the house or walk alone,' said Amnesty International's secretary general Agnes Callamard. The rights group demanded Syrian authorities 'urgently step up efforts to prevent gender-based violence' and ensure thorough investigations. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria also reported abductions of at least six Alawite women, with credible evidence of more cases. – AFP
New Straits Times
30-06-2025
- New Straits Times
'She's not coming back': Alawite women snatched from streets of Syria
"DON'T wait for her," the WhatsApp caller told the family of Abeer Suleiman on May 21, hours after she vanished from the streets of the Syrian town of Safita. "She's not coming back." Suleiman's kidnapper and another man who identified himself as an intermediary said in subsequent calls and messages that the 29-year-old woman would be killed or trafficked into slavery unless her relatives paid them a ransom of US$15,000. "I am not in Syria," Suleiman herself told her family in a call on May 29 from the same phone number used by her captor, which had an Iraqi country code. "All the accents around me are strange." Suleiman is among at least 33 women and girls from Syria's Alawite sect - aged between 16 and 39 - who have been abducted or gone missing this year in the turmoil following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. His overthrow in December after 14 years of civil war unleashed a furious backlash against the Muslim minority community The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria told Reuters it is investigating the disappearances and alleged abductions of Alawite women following a spike in reports this year. Suleiman's family borrowed from friends and neighbours to scrape together her US$15,000 ransom, which they transferred to three money-transfer accounts in the Turkish city of Izmir on May 27 and 28 in 30 transfers ranging from US$300 to US$700, a close relative told Reuters, sharing the transaction receipts. Once all money was delivered as instructed, the abductor and intermediary ceased all contact, with their phones turned off. Suleiman's family still have no idea what's become of her. Detailed interviews with the families of 16 of the missing women and girls found that seven are believed to have been kidnapped. Three of the abductees - including Suleiman - sent their families text or voice messages saying they'd been taken out of the country. There has been no word on the fate of the other nine. Eight of the 16 missing Alawites are under the age of 18, their families said. All 33 women disappeared in the governorates of Tartous, Latakia and Hama, which have large Alawite populations. Most of the families felt police didn't take their cases seriously when they reported their loved ones missing or abducted, and that authorities failed to investigate thoroughly. Ahmed Mohammed Khair, a media officer for the governor of Tartous, dismissed any suggestion that Alawites were being targeted. Syrian rights advocate Yamen Hussein, said as far as he knew, only Alawites had been targeted. "Targeting women of the defeated party is a humiliation tactic that was used in the past by the Assad regime." Zeinab Ghadir is among the youngest. at 17 years of age. She was abducted on her way to school in the Latakia town of al-Hanadi on February 27, according to a family member. The suspected kidnapper contacted them by text message to warn them not to post images of the girl online. The family has no idea what has happened to her. Khozama Nayef was snatched on March 18 in rural Hama by a group of five men who drugged her to knock her out,, a close relative said citing the mother-of-five's own testimony when she was returned. Days after Nayef was taken, 29-year-old Doaa Abbas was seized on her doorstep by attackers who dragged her into a car waiting outside and sped off, in the Hama town of Salhab. Three Alawites reported missing by their families on social media this year, who are not included in the 33 cases identified by Reuters, have since resurfaced and publicly denied they were abducted. A host of dire scenarios are torturing the minds of the family of Nagham Shadi, an Alawite woman who vanished this month, her father told Reuters. The 23-year-old left their house in the village of al Bayadiyah in Hama on June 2 to buy milk and never came back, Saudi Aisha said, describing an agonising wait for any word about the fate of his daughter. "What do we do? We leave it to God."
Shafaq News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Alawite women targeted in post-Assad chaos
Shafaq News - Damascus The aftermath of Bashar al-Assad's ousting has unleashed a new wave of violence in Syria—this time targeting women of his own sect. Reuters reported that at least 33 Alawite women and girls, ages 16 to 39, have gone missing in 2025 alone, amid the unraveling security situation in al-Assad's coastal strongholds. "Don't wait for her," a chilling voice told the family of 29-year-old Abeer Suleiman, who vanished on May 21 in Safita. Days later, her family received WhatsApp calls demanding $15,000 for her release, warning she would be killed or trafficked if the ransom wasn't paid. Suleiman later managed to say, 'I am not in Syria… all the accents around me are strange,' in a recorded call traced to an Iraqi number. This is not an isolated case. These abductions, which exclusively target Alawite women, coincide with escalating reprisals against the community after al-Assad's fall in December. Armed factions aligned with the transitional government have reportedly killed hundreds of Alawites in the coastal regions since March. Despite widespread online pleas from victims' families, no comparable patterns of disappearances have been reported among other sects. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria is now formally investigating the wave of abductions. The rising trend has spotlighted the vulnerability of minority communities during regime transitions and raised urgent questions about state accountability, regional trafficking networks, and sectarian vengeance.
AsiaOne
27-06-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
'She's not coming back': Alawite women snatched from streets of Syria, Asia News
DAMASCUS - "Don't wait for her," the WhatsApp caller told the family of Abeer Suleiman on May 21, hours after she vanished from the streets of the Syrian town of Safita. "She's not coming back." Suleiman's kidnapper and another man who identified himself as an intermediary said in subsequent calls and messages that the 29-year-old woman would be killed or trafficked into slavery unless her relatives paid them a ransom of US$15,000 (S$19,000). "I am not in Syria," Suleiman herself told her family in a call on May 29 from the same phone number used by her captor, which had an Iraqi country code. "All the accents around me are strange." Reuters reviewed the call, which the family recorded, along with about a dozen calls and messages sent by the abductor and intermediary, who had a Syrian phone number. Suleiman is among at least 33 women and girls from Syria's Alawite sect - aged between 16 and 39 - who have been abducted or gone missing this year in the turmoil following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to the families of all them. The overthrow of the widely feared president in December after 14 years of civil war unleashed a furious backlash against the Muslim minority community to which he belongs, with armed factions affiliated to the current government turning on Alawite civilians in their coastal heartlands in March, killing hundreds of people. Since March, social media has seen a steady stream of messages and video clips posted by families of missing Alawite women appealing for information about them, with new cases cropping up almost daily, according to a Reuters review which found no online accounts of women from other sects vanishing. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria told Reuters it is investigating the disappearances and alleged abductions of Alawite women following a spike in reports this year. The commission, set up in 2011 to probe rights violations after the civil war broke out, will report to the UN Human Rights Council once the investigations are concluded, a spokesperson said. Suleiman's family borrowed from friends and neighbours to scrape together her US$15,000 ransom, which they transferred to three money-transfer accounts in the Turkish city of Izmir on May 27 and 28 in 30 transfers ranging from US$300 to US$700, a close relative told Reuters, sharing the transaction receipts. Once all money was delivered as instructed, the abductor and intermediary ceased all contact, with their phones turned off, the relative said. Suleiman's family still have no idea what's become of her. Detailed interviews with the families of 16 of the missing women and girls found that seven of them are believed to have been kidnapped, with their relatives receiving demands for ransoms ranging from US$1,500 to US$100,000. Three of the abductees - including Suleiman - sent their families text or voice messages saying they'd been taken out of the country. There has been no word on the fate of the other nine. Eight of the 16 missing Alawites are under the age of 18, their families said. Reuters reviewed about 20 text messages, calls and videos from the abductees and their alleged captors, as well as receipts of some ransom transfers, though it was unable to verify all parts of the families' accounts or determine who might have targeted the women or their motives. All 33 women disappeared in the governorates of Tartous, Latakia and Hama, which have large Alawite populations. Nearly half have since returned home, though all of the women and their families declined to comment about the circumstances, with most citing security fears. Most of the families interviewed by Reuters said they felt police didn't take their cases seriously when they reported their loved ones missing or abducted, and that authorities failed to investigate thoroughly. The Syrian government didn't respond to a request for comment for this article. Ahmed Mohammed Khair, a media officer for the governor of Tartous, dismissed any suggestion that Alawites were being targeted and said most cases of missing women were down to family disputes or personal reasons rather than abductions, without presenting evidence to support this. "Women are either forced into marrying someone they won't want to marry so they run away or sometimes they want to draw attention by disappearing," he added and warned that "unverified allegations" could create panic and discord and destabilise security. A media officer for Latakia governorate echoed Khair's comments, saying that in many cases, women elope with their lovers and families fabricate abduction stories to avoid the social stigma. The media officer of Hama governorate declined to comment. A member of a fact-finding committee set up by new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to investigate the mass killings of Alawites in coastal areas in March, declined to comment on the cases of missing women. Al-Sharaa denounced the sectarian bloodshed as a threat to his mission to unite the ravaged nation and has promised to punish those responsible, including those affiliated to the government if necessary. Grabbed on her way to school Syrian rights advocate Yamen Hussein, who has been tracking the disappearances of women this year, said most had taken place in the wake of the March violence. As far as he knew, only Alawites had been targeted and the perpetrators' identities and motives remain unknown, he said. He described a widespread feeling of fear among Alawites, who adhere to an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam and account for about a tenth of Syria's predominantly Sunni population. Some women and girls in Tartous, Latakia and Hama are staying away from school or college because they fear being targeted, Hussein said. "For sure, we have a real issue here where Alawite women are being targeted with abductions," he added. "Targeting women of the defeated party is a humiliation tactic that was used in the past by the Assad regime." Thousands of Alawites have been forced from their homes in Damascus, while many have been dismissed from their jobs and faced harassment at checkpoints from Sunni fighters affiliated to the government. The interviews with families of missing women showed that most of them vanished in broad daylight, while running errands or travelling on public transport. Zeinab Ghadir is among the youngest. The 17-year-old was abducted on her way to school in the Latakia town of al-Hanadi on February 27, according to a family member who said her suspected kidnapper contacted them by text message to warn them not to post images of the girl online. "I don't want to see a single picture or, I swear to God, I will send you her blood," the man said in a text message sent from the girl's phone on the same day she disappeared. The teenage girl made a brief phone call home, saying she didn't know where she had been taken and that she had stomach pain, before the line cut out, her relative said. The family has no idea what has happened to her. Khozama Nayef was snatched on March 18 in rural Hama by a group of five men who drugged her to knock her out for a few hours while they spirited her away, a close relative told Reuters, citing the mother-of-five's own testimony when she was returned. The 35-year-old spent 15 days in captivity while her abductors negotiated with the family who eventually paid US$1,500 dollars to secure her release, according to the family member who said when she returned home she had a mental breakdown. Days after Nayef was taken, 29-year-old Doaa Abbas was seized on her doorstep by a group of attackers who dragged her into a car waiting outside and sped off, according to a family member who witnessed the abduction in the Hama town of Salhab. The relative, who didn't see how many men took Abbas or whether they were armed, said he tried to follow on his motorbike but lost sight of the car. Three Alawites reported missing by their families on social media this year, who are not included in the 33 cases identified by Reuters, have since resurfaced and publicly denied they were abducted. One of them, a 16-year-old girl from Latakia, released a video online saying she ran away of her own accord to marry a Sunni man. Her family contradicted her story though, telling Reuters that she had been abducted and forced to marry the man, and that security authorities had ordered her to say she had gone willingly to protect her kidnappers. Reuters was unable to verify either account. A Syrian government spokesperson and Latakian authorities didn't respond to queries about it. The two other Alawites who resurfaced, a 23-year-old woman and a girl of 12, told Arabic TV channels that they had travelled of their own volition to the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, respectively, though the former said she ended up being beaten up by a man in an apartment before escaping. Dark memories of Islamic State Syria's Alawites dominated the country's political and military elite for decades under the Assad dynasty. Bashar al-Assad's sudden exit in December saw the ascendancy of a new government led by HTS, a Sunni group that emerged from an organisation once affiliated to al Qaeda. The new government is striving to integrate dozens of former rebel factions, including some foreign fighters, into its security forces to fill a vacuum left after the collapse of Assad's defence apparatus. Several of the families of missing women said they and many others in their community dreaded a nightmare scenario where Alawites suffered similar fates to those inflicted on the Yazidi religious minority by Islamic State about a decade ago. IS, a jihadist Sunni group, forced thousands of Yazidi women into sexual slavery during a reign of terror that saw its commanders claim a caliphate encompassing large parts of Iraq and Syria, according to the UN. A host of dire scenarios are torturing the minds of the family of Nagham Shadi, an Alawite woman who vanished this month, her father told Reuters. The 23-year-old left their house in the village of al Bayadiyah in Hama on June 2 to buy milk and never came back, Shadi Aisha said, describing an agonising wait for any word about the fate of his daughter. Aisha said his family had been forced from their previous home in a nearby village on March 7 during the anti-Alawite violence. "What do we do? We leave it to God." [[nid:717511]]
