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Syria’s new Islamist-led interim government is facing increasing accusations of torture and murder, amid a wave of violence all over the country.
Murders are being reported in Syria on a daily basis. In many cases, government forces, especially the so-called General Security Service (GSS), are accused by families of the victims or activists of committing, facilitating or covering up the murders themselves.
While the government is making promises to reform its forces, the rate of crimes is increasing. In just under a month, there have been at least six prominent cases where the GSS or forces affiliated with the government were involved in a way or another.
On July 24, Ahmad Khadour, an Alawite civilian man, was beaten to death at a GSS checkpoint near the town of Karto in the governorate of Tartus. The personnel killed Khadour and arrested three other men who were with them because he refused to “bark like a dog,” according to activists.
Initially, the GSS completely ignored the crime. Only after the cease gained some attention from the public, the force released a statement announcing the arrest of the personnel who killed the man. However, instead of acknowledging what happened, the force in fact attempted to justify the crime, claiming that Khadour, who had just returned to Syria, was wanted and that he resisted arrest.
The government’s story led to legitimate questions about the arrests made, with activists suggesting that the personnel behind the crime, whose photos and identities were not revealed, were likely released right away and deployed in another area.
While Khadour’s murder was clearly motivated by sectarian hatred, this is not always the case. On July 29, Yusuf al-Labad, a devoted Sunni Muslim and a supporter of the new government, was reportedly killed by the GSS inside of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Like Khadour, al-Labad had just returned from abroad, namely from Germany. He reportedly planned to stay for a few days in the Umayyad before meeting his family. However, his seclusion came to a tragic end when he was arrested by the GSS for no clear reason then beaten to death in the mosque detention room.
The government released a statement addressing the crime, but instead of taking responsibility, it accused the man of being mentally ill. The statement basically said that al-Labad started acting frantically and when he was apprehended by the GSS, he slammed his body against the wall to death. These accusations were refused by his family, which noted that the man’s medical records in Germany show that he was completely sane.
On August 3, another crime was reported in Damascus. The victim this time was an artist named Diyala, who is the daughter of the Iraqi-born world renowned musician Solhi al-Wadi who worked in Syria for much of his life.
The middle-aged woman, who holds a British citizenship, was strangled to death in her apartment in Damascus’s up-scale Malki neighborhood. The GSS announced the arrest of the murderer soon after, claiming that he was just a robber. However, activists said that the man arrested was not the same one seen in surveillance camera footage.
Not only that, Diyala had reportedly returned recently to Syria from the United Kingdom after being told by some of her neighbors that some officials from the new government were eyeing her luxury apartment.
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The very next day, August 4, two more crimes, allegedly involving the GSS, were reported. In the town of al-Tal near Damascus, an electronic store owner, Hussien al-Bij, was taken by gunmen then executed. Surveillance footage revealed that the gunmen were wearing uniforms similar to that of security forces. They also covered their faces, which is a common practice with the GSS.
In the city of Deir Ezzor, a pro-government activist, Kindy al-Adai, was found hanged in his apartment in al-Joura neighborhood.
The young man, who reportedly holds Canadian citizenship, was reportedly tortured mercilessly before being killed. Al-Adai, a known staunch pro-government activist, had also returned to Syria very recently.
Activists said that al-Adai ran into some problems with the GSS before his murder. Days after the crime, the GSS said that the perpetrators were apprehended, without revealing their identities, photos or explaining the motive behind the gruesome.
On August 11, a man was reportedly tortured to death in a GSS center in the al-Klassah neighborhood in the city of Aleppo. The man, Abdulrahman Ja’ajul, was a former rebel. He was arrested over a petty crime. He reportedly died within a few hours of his arrest after getting savagely beaten up by security personnel, who reportedly went as far as crushing his testicles.
As usual, the government issued a statement acknowledging the incident without directly claiming responsibility. Arrests were announced soon after, but again without providing any details on the accused security personnel which raised questions about the whole investigation.
These crimes highlight a growing pattern of violence by Syrian government forces, directly fueled by the lack of any accountability.
While such violations began with sectarian motives, now no one appears to be safe from these forces, not even the supporters of the government or those with a second citizenship.
These crimes are discouraging more Syrian refugees from returning to their countries. Still, no real work is being done to fix this situation, which appears to be only getting worse.
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if india dropped atomic bombs on damascus it would be a wonderful day
better to drop there, some day, suheil al hassam.
please mossad, if you read this, please mr. benjamin netanyahu, that he disintegrate syria.
this is to dismember and abolish the country. like yugoslavia.
and so the serbs and croats stopped killing each other. there is no other option than for everyone to have their own country.
does that justify nato-aka- usa-uk-germany-france flattening yugoslavia including men-women-children -television companies -civilian buildings -hospitals-schools and 11 tons of depleted uranium -with the usa- “shock & awe bombing -aka- “blitzkrieg ” tactics ?
that is the plan – to turn all the surrounding states into bootlicking whores like sisi and fake “king” abdullah.
according to trump al jolani is a good looking guy but these gss dudes have puny arms. looks like the usa was embargoing dumbells and barbells. absolutely skinny little bitches but trump likes pre-pubescents.
the creation of syria was a mistake.
it was done on purpose by french and english colonialists divide et impera. and for above all balkanized stuff is terrible. people could live in peace but sowing discord is what’s done by the ruling us imperium. the heart of serbia was torn out and converted into kossovo big nato base and in the heart of western asia the dagger of ‘israel’ was planted.
syria was created thousands of years ago. joo cockroaches and their goy whores have been trying to destroy it since at least 1949
these people need to go their separate ways. it will be better for everyone.
the jooz need to go back to khazaria. it will be better for everyone.
quite tragic really. the middle east is going through the same sectarian strife that european went through from the reformation to the holocaust and which continues in pockets in ireland, the balkans, the greek catholic lands in ukraine etc. i see that israel is also about to be internally inflamed between the secular and clerics,
you shouldn’t blame the head choppers. they’re just doing what they’re being paid to do by their masters. they have to earn david lammy’s £50 million and von der lying’s 2.5 billion euros.
syria people who opposed bassar alasad just bcuz he was not sunni . now are paying for thier own mistake by choosing this zionist slave to rule the country. now this same suffiani supporter are killing syrian and shaking hand with zionist to do thier dirty work