Syrian authorities must investigate Alawite women abductions: Amnesty
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Amnesty International urges the Syrian government to act swiftly on gender-based violence amid reports of 36 Alawite women and girls abducted in 2025.
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A protest condemning attacks on the Alawite community in Qamishli, Syria, on March 11 (AFP)
Amnesty International called on the Syrian government on Tuesday to take immediate and decisive action by intensifying its efforts to combat gender-based violence, ensuring that cases involving the abduction and kidnapping of Alawite women and girls are investigated without delay, with thoroughness and impartiality, and that those responsible are brought to justice.
In its statement, Amnesty International reported that since February 2025, it has received credible information on at least 36 cases involving the abduction and kidnapping of Alawite women and girls, ranging in age from three to 40 years, across the governorates of Latakia, Tartous, Homs, and Hama by unidentified perpetrators. Among these cases, the organization documented eight specific incidents, including the broad daylight abduction of five Alawite women and three girls under the age of 18.
According to Amnesty, police and security forces failed to properly investigate the disappearances in all but one case, and on 22 July, President al-Sharaa’s fact-finding committee denied receiving any reports of abducted women or girls.
“The authorities in Syria have repeatedly promised to build a Syria for all Syrians, yet they are failing to stop abductions and kidnappings of women and girls, to prevent physical abuse, forced marriage and likely trafficking in persons, to effectively investigate and to prosecute those responsible," Secretary-General of Amnesty, Agnès Callamard, said.
Callamard noted that the Alawite minority, who were already shaken by massacres along the Syrian coast in March, are now deeply affected by the wave of abduction, making girls and women fearful of walking alone or leaving the house.
Syrian authorities ignore reports of kidnappings
Amnesty International documented eight cases in which families reported the abduction of their female relatives to police or security services, yet in four of these instances, new evidence submitted by the families was either dismissed or ignored.
Despite repeated inquiries, families received no updates on the investigations, and in two cases, police and security officers even accused the victims' own relatives of responsibility for the abductions.
Amnesty International documented cases where abductors escalated their threats, with one family receiving photographic evidence showing their beaten relative, while in two other instances, ransom demands between $10,000 and $14,000 were made. Though only one family managed to pay, their loved one remained in captivity as the kidnappers failed to honor the agreement.
The report indicates that at least three abductees, including one minor, were probably forced into marriage by their captors.
Women, girls live in fear
Numerous interviewees revealed that women and girls, primarily from the Alawite community but also including others living in the affected governorates, now live in fear. They described taking extreme precautions when leaving home for essential activities: attending school, going to university, or traveling to work, with many altering their daily routines due to safety concerns.
“All women are on full alert. We can’t take a taxi alone, walk alone, or do anything without feeling afraid. Even though I’m not Alawite, and my family was initially skeptical about the abductions, they still asked me not to go anywhere alone and to be extra cautious," stated one activist who recently visited the Syrian coast.
“We call on the Syrian authorities to act swiftly and transparently in locating missing women and girls, bringing perpetrators to justice, and providing affected families with timely, gender-sensitive and credible information and support,” Callamard asserted.
Amnesty International interviewed close relatives of eight abducted women and girls between February and June 2025, documenting that in four cases, families received calls from Syrian or foreign phone numbers, including numbers from Iraq, the UAE, and Türkiye, with abductors either demanding ransom or threatening families who searched for their missing relatives. 
According to reports of 28 additional abductions obtained by Amnesty from two activists, two journalists, and the Syrian Feminist Lobby, 14 women and girls were later released, though the status and location of the others remain unconfirmed.
