By Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey
DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Near midnight on March 6, as a wave of sectarian killings started in western Syria, masked males stormed the houses of Alawite households within the capital Damascus and detained greater than two dozen unarmed males, witnesses mentioned.
These taken from the neighbourhood of al-Qadam included a retired instructor, an engineering pupil and a mechanic, all of them Alawite – the minority sect of toppled chief Bashar al-Assad.
A bunch of Alawites loyal to Assad had launched a fledgling insurgency hours earlier in coastal areas, some 200 miles (320 km) to the northwest. That unleashed a spree of revenge killings there that left tons of of Alawites useless.
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa informed Reuters he dispatched his forces the following day to halt the violence on the coast however that some fighters who flooded the area to crush the rebellion did so with out defence ministry authorisation.
Amid fears of wider sectarian battle throughout Syria, Sharaa’s authorities took pains to emphasise within the wake of the violence that the killings had been geographically restricted. It named a fact-finding committee to analyze “the occasions on the coast”.
In line with accounts from 13 witnesses in Damascus, nonetheless, the sectarian violence unfold to the southern edges of Syria’s capital, just a few kilometres from the presidential palace. The main points of the alleged raids, kidnappings and killings haven’t been beforehand reported.
“Any Alawite dwelling, they knocked the door down and took the lads from inside,” mentioned one resident, whose relative, 48-year-old telecoms engineer Ihsan Zeidan, was taken by masked males within the early hours of March 7.
“They took him purely as a result of he is Alawite.”
All of the witnesses who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity out of concern of reprisals.
The neighbourhood of al-Qadam is well-known to be dwelling to many Alawite households. In whole, the witnesses mentioned, a minimum of 25 males had been taken. Not less than 12 of them had been later confirmed useless, in response to family members and neighbours, who mentioned they both noticed images of the our bodies or discovered them useless close by.
The remainder of the lads haven’t been heard from.
4 of the witnesses mentioned a few of the armed males who got here to al-Qadam recognized themselves as members of Common Safety Service (GSS), a brand new Syrian company comprising former rebels.
A spokesperson for the inside ministry, beneath which the GSS operates, informed Reuters the drive “didn’t goal Alawites immediately. The safety forces are confiscating weapons from all sects.”
The spokesperson didn’t reply to additional questions, together with why unarmed males had been allegedly taken in these operations.
Yasser Farhan, spokesman for the committee investigating the sectarian violence, mentioned its work has been geographically restricted to the coast, so it had not investigated instances in al-Qadam. “However there could also be deliberations throughout the committee at a later time to broaden our work,” he informed Reuters.
Alawites comprise round 10% of Syria’s inhabitants, concentrated within the coastal heartlands of Latakia and Tartus. Hundreds of Alawite households have additionally lived in Damascus for many years, and in provincial cities comparable to Homs and Hama.
CYCLE OF IMPUNITY
Human Rights Watch researcher Hiba Zayadin known as for an intensive investigation of the alleged raids, in response to Reuters’ reporting.
“Households deserve solutions, and the authorities should be certain that these accountable are held accountable, regardless of their affiliation,” she mentioned. “Till that occurs, the cycle of violence and impunity will proceed.”
4 of the lads confirmed useless in Damascus had been from the identical prolonged household, in response to a relative who escaped the raid by hiding on an higher ground with the household’s younger kids.
They had been Mohsen Mahmoud Badran, 77, Fadi Mohsen Badran, 41, Ayham Hussein Badran, a 40-year-old born with two fingers on his proper hand, a beginning defect that disqualified him from military service, and their brother-in-law Firas Mohammad Maarouf, 45.
Relations visited the Mujtahid Hospital in central Damascus seeking their our bodies however workers denied them entry to the morgue and referred them to the GSS department in al-Qadam, the witness mentioned.
An official there confirmed them images on a telephone of all 4 males, useless. No explanation for demise was given and none may very well be ascertained from the photographs, the relative mentioned.
The official informed the household to gather the our bodies from the Mujtahid hospital however workers there denied that they had them.
“We have not been capable of finding them, and we’re too scared to ask anybody,” the relative informed Reuters.
Mohammad Halbouni, Mujtahid Hospital’s director, informed Reuters that any our bodies from al-Qadam had been taken on to the forensic drugs division subsequent door. Employees there mentioned that they had no info to share.
The inside ministry spokesperson didn’t reply to questions on whether or not the forces at al-Qadam station had been linked to the deaths.
Sharaa has introduced the dissolution of all insurgent teams and their deliberate integration into Syria’s restructured defence ministry. However full command-and-control over the assorted, typically rival, factions stays elusive.
4 different males seized the identical night time had been present in an orchard close to al-Qadam, with gunshot wounds indicating they had been killed “execution-style,” in response to a second resident, who informed Reuters the household swiftly buried the our bodies.
Reuters was unable to substantiate independently the small print of her account.
One other set of 4 males had been confirmed useless by their family members, who acquired images of the our bodies on messaging platform WhatsApp on Thursday, practically three weeks after they had been taken.
The photographs, reviewed by Reuters, depicted 4 males on the bottom with blood and bruises on their faces. One among them was recognized by the relative as Samer Asaad, a 45-year-old with a psychological handicap who was taken on the night time of March 6.
Most of these seized stay lacking.
They embrace college pupil Ali Rustom, 25, and his father Tamim Rustom, a 65-year-old retired maths instructor, two family members informed Reuters. “Now we have no proof, no our bodies, no info,” one mentioned.
‘ALL I WANT IS TO LEAVE’
A relative of Rabih Aqel, a mechanic, mentioned his household had inquired on the native police station and different safety companies however had been informed that they had no info on Aqel’s whereabouts.
She drew parallels with pressured disappearances beneath Assad, when 1000’s vanished right into a labyrinthine jail system. In lots of instances, households would be taught years later their family members had died in detention.
She and the opposite witnesses mentioned they haven’t been approached by the fact-finding committee.
Farhan, the committee spokesman, informed reporters on Tuesday its members had interviewed witnesses in a number of coastal districts and had two extra cities there to go to.
All of the witnesses mentioned they felt beneath stress to go away al-Qadam particularly as a result of they had been Alawite. Some already had.
One younger resident mentioned armed males had come to his dwelling a number of instances within the weeks after Assad’s ouster, demanding proof the household owned the home and had not been affiliated to the ousted Assad household.
He and his household have since fled, asking Sunni Muslim neighbours to take care of their dwelling.
Others mentioned that they had stopped going to work or had been solely transferring round within the daytime to keep away from attainable arrest.
One other girl in her sixties mentioned she was seeking to promote her home in al-Qadam due to the dangers her husband or sons could be taken. “After what occurred, all I need is to go away the realm.”
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey; Enhancing by Daniel Flynn)
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