French group sues Syria's al-Sharaa, ministers, for Alawite massacres

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
11 Apr 2025 22:46

The French-Alawite Collective has filed an unprecedented lawsuit against Ahmad al-Sharaa and a number of his ministers, citing the massacres in Syria's coast.

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Syria's interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025 (AP)

The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office has agreed to receive a legal complaint filed against Syria’s transitional leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and several of his ministers, on charges such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

The lawsuit, submitted by the French-Alawite Collective (collectif CFA) and obtained by Al Mayadeen, accuses al-Sharaa and a number of his ministers of committing crimes against humanity, particularly those against the Alawite community in Syria, referring to the massacres that took place between December 2024 and March 2025.

The lawsuit names al-Sharaa, Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Interior Minister Anas Khattab, and the commander of the 25th Division of the Syrian military, Mohammad al-Jassem.

According to the statement issued by the CFA, "attacks carried out by units of the New Syrian Army (25th Division), the General Security Directorate, and pro-government militias deliberately targeted Alawite civilians, along with certain Christian and Sunni families who tried to protect them."

The victims were subjected to direct and premeditated gunfire, and documented cases included the slaughter of civilians, including children, as well as acts of mutilation and desecration of corpses.

The statement added that “the attacks led to the deaths of thousands of civilians, including women, children, and elderly people, most of them from the Alawite community, under direct orders from al-Sharaa, who openly declared a general mobilization against the Alawite sect and willfully refrained from issuing any command to halt the massacres, despite being fully aware of their scope and brutality,” according to the collective.

While the exact death toll remains difficult to document due to mass graves and a large number of missing persons, estimates suggest that more than 30,000 civilians have been displaced to nearby forests and into Lebanon. Thousands more have taken refuge at the Russian-operated Hmeimim military base, with the number of displaced civilians there exceeding 10,000.

This lawsuit marks the first legal action of its kind in France against al-Sharaa. It coincides with a protest organized by the French-Alawite Collective scheduled for Saturday, outside the Palais de Justice in Paris, to mourn the victims of the attacks on Syria’s coastal cities.

Pro-government groups committed war crimes in the Syrian coast: Amnesty

Earlier in April, Amnesty International found that the events that unfolded in Syria's coastline area were "war crimes", holding Syrian interim government forces accountable for the massacres.

Amnesty International highlighted that pro-government militants killed over 100 people in the seaside city of Baniyas on March 8 and 9, 2025. The group investigated 32 incidents and determined that they were purposeful and targeted the Alawite minority.

Eyewitnesses informed Amnesty International that armed men asked victims if they were Alawites before threatening or murdering them.

In certain cases, they held them responsible for transgressions committed by the ousted regime. Authorities also compelled families to bury their loved ones in mass graves, with no religious or public rituals.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General, urged "accountability for those responsible for this horrifying wave of brutal mass killings."

Callamard added that the organization's information shows that "pro-government militias deliberately targeted Alawite civilians in horrific retaliatory attacks, executing individuals in cold blood," as the government did not interfere for two days to end the atrocities.

She underlined that the scale and method of these deaths constitute "war crime", adding that states are obligated to guarantee prompt, independent, effective, and impartial investigations into claims of illegal killings, as well as hold perpetrators accountable.