Investigating murders by Bashar al-Assad’s forces may help bring justice to the 700 victims. Go door to door killing and arresting men, women and children and pulling terrified people out of basements. Assad’s regime described it as a counter-terrorism operation
In a terrible show of violence that Syrian government forces used against civilians in the town of Daraa 10 years ago, years were revealed in the first detailed investigation of the massacre. At least 700 people were killed when forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stormed the town between August 24 and 26, 2012. Forces went door-to-door killing and arresting men, women and children. and pulled terrified people from basements.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the atrocity, a team of researchers from Syria, or of Syrian origin, backed by the Syrian British Consortium (SBC) advocacy group, located survivors and witnesses scattered around the world to interview and analyze their testimonies. Some of the researchers’ names have been changed for security reasons. The team hopes the findings released Thursday will be used by UN bodies and other legal institutions to prosecute some of those responsible.
“This report documents the atrocities committed in Daraa based on the testimonies of witnesses and victims, thereby perpetuating the memory and keeping a record for future generations,” the report reads. Troops went door to door killing and arresting men, women and children. and pulled terrified people from basements.
“It also shows that despite the passage of 10 years and the collection of significant evidence, justice continues to elude the residents of Daraa. Despite their disappointment with the international system, witnesses provided their testimony, and told of the heinous crimes committed in Daraa by the Russian government, based on their story, their truth not only deserves to be documented, But it may one day help bring justice and responsibility.”
At that time, the events in Daraa, followed by a few kilometers from Damascus, were considered the most serious massacre of the civil war. Assad’s regime described it as a counter-terrorism operation. Internationally, it is almost undocumented, apart from a brief mention in a wider UN report on Syria in 2013, which acknowledged government forces had committed war crimes and said further investigation was needed.
“We chose to investigate this massacre because it was the beginning of the disintegration of Daraa,” said Yasmin Nahalavi, an expert on international law and atrocity prevention. “The army has engaged in skirmishes in the past, entered the city and shot protesters. But this was the first major event that led to a spiral of targeted attacks against the city’s residents, additional massacres, sieges and bombings.”
Researcher Yaffe Omar, who heard the bombings from her home in central Damascus, said: “If you allow these crimes to happen in Syria, it will become the norm, and it will happen in other places. The Syrians who do this pave the way for more victims in other countries with the same tools.”
In the days leading up to the massacre, witnesses, many of whom were interviewed about the events for the first time, said the Assad government and its allies had indiscriminately shelled neighborhoods across Daraa, killing and wounding civilians.
The Guardian reported that investigators were able to identify government forces and Iranian and Hezbollah militias involved in the attacks, and identified their symbols and weapons. The team also identified several people directly responsible. The investigation also details how the massacre and its aftermath were the target of disinformation, including evidence that television reporters interviewed civilians who were wounded to bolster the state’s narrative that rebel forces were responsible for the killings.
In a recent trial in Germany, a former Syrian officer was convicted of crimes against humanity, but attempts to bring Syria to the International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council were blocked by Russia and China.