‘Entire families’ killed in Syria fighting: UN

The wave of violence broke out last Thursday, when armed groups loyal to deposed former President Bashar al-Assad ambushed security forces in the province of Latakia, killing at least 16 members of the security forces, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The attacks escalated into sectarian violence, with pro-government forces rampaging through coastal provinces heavily populated by Alawites, as well as the nearby provinces of Hama and Homs, killing people, sometimes entire families, on streets, in homes, on rooftops.

Of the roughly 1,000 civilians killed, nearly 200 were in Baniyas, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said on Tuesday.

He added initial reports indicated that the perpetrators, who have not been identified, were both members of armed groups supporting Syria’s interim authorities and those associated with the former government.

“They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartous, Latakia and Hama governorates – reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities’ security forces, and by elements associated with the former government.”

On Sunday, the country’s new presidency led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the formation of a fact-finding committee to “investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them”. It added it would present its findings within 30 days and that those found to be responsible for violations would be referred to the judiciary.

“The new Syria is determined to enshrine justice and the rule of law, protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens, prevent unlawful revenge and guarantee that there is no impunity,” Yasser al-Farhan, the spokesperson of the new fact-finding committee, told a news conference in Damascus on Tuesday.

Farhan added that the committee was working on “gathering and reviewing evidence” related to the wave of violence.

When al-Assad fell last December, Syrian analysts feared there would be revenge attacks against the Alawite community – the second-largest religious group in Syria after Sunni Muslims.

So far, the UN human rights office has documented the killing of 111 civilians and expects the toll to be significantly higher, Al-Kheetan said. Of those, 90 were men; 18 were women; and three were children, he added.

“Many of the cases documented were of summary executions. They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis,” Al-Kheetan told reporters.

In some cases, men were shot dead in front of their families, he continued, citing testimonies from survivors.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday also called on Syria’s new authorities to ensure accountability for the mass killings.

“Syria’s new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past, but grave abuses on a staggering scale are being reported against predominantly Alawite Syrians in the coastal region and elsewhere in Syria,” HRW’s Deputy Regional Director Adam Coogle said in a statement.

“Government action to protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators of indiscriminate shootings, summary executions, and other grave crimes must be swift and unequivocal,” he added.