HRW: Syria has yet to show investigation data on coastal massacres
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Human Rights Watch accused Syria’s transitional authorities of failing to ensure accountability for the March Sahel massacres, where more than 1,400 people were killed.
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Samira Alloush, searching for her missing son, cries as she watches the Syrian Civil Defense workers inspect clothes found alongside human remains in Otaiba, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Friday, September 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a report on Syria published on September 23, accused the new transitional regime of failing to comply with international obligations by withholding full findings on the massacres in the Syrian coastal region that occurred in March.
The 51-page report, titled “Are You an Alawite? Identity-Based Killings During Syria’s Transition”, documents abuses by the new regime, as well as government-aligned armed groups and militants. The report details arbitrary arrests, home raids, destruction of property, and abuses against detained civilians. HRW noted that while the government promised accountability, the Syrian investigation failed to clarify whether senior officials or top military leaders were implicated, nor did it specify disciplinary measures to be taken.
“The government’s acknowledgment of atrocities is a step forward, but it falls short of ensuring justice for higher-level officials who enabled or failed to stop them,” said Hiba Zayadin, senior Syria researcher at HRW. “Failing to hold accountable commanders and officials responsible for deploying and directing abusive forces leaves the door open to further reprisals and atrocities in Syria.”
HRW, together with Syrians for Truth and Justice and Syrian Archive, emphasized that even the government admitted members of its security forces had committed violations ahead of the March massacres. They found that patterns of arbitrary arrests and identity-based targeting in Alawite communities had begun weeks earlier in Homs and rural Hama.
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Abuses continued after March
The report adds that abuses continued after March, including in the southern province of Sweida in July, where Druze residents reported executions, looting, and property destruction during security operations carried out by units of the Syrian Defense and Interior Ministries.
“You do not need a signed order to hold senior officials and faction commanders accountable,” said Bassam al-Ahmed, co-founder and executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice. “Defense Ministry officials had the power to mobilize tens of thousands of fighters, assign deployments, and sustain operations across dozens of towns. The question is not just who gave the orders, or if they did, it is why no one in charge curbed the widespread killings and looting. That is a failure of leadership and a failure of will.”
HRW’s report also referenced the UN Commission of Inquiry’s August findings, which concluded that interim government forces, pro-former government fighters, and private individuals committed serious violations, including murder, torture, abductions, pillage, and destruction of property, that likely amounted to war crimes.
Fighters who spoke with HRW said that military leadership continued to deploy troops even after the killings became public knowledge.
The Syrian National Committee for Investigation and Fact-Finding into the Events on the Coast reported that 1,426 people were killed, while 298 suspects were referred to authorities. However, the committee framed the attacks as acts of personal revenge and punishment rather than state-directed operations.
