01/20/2025

Human rights violations in Syria

ICC must fully investigate crimes

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) welcomes the plans of Karim Khan, Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), to have the war crimes of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad investigated. “Tens of thousands of people were murdered under Assad. Political prisoners were tortured to death in the prisons, and civilian targets were attacked and destroyed. The victims of the regime and their family relatives deserve justice,” stated Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, in Göttingen today.

“For a peaceful future, it is urgently necessary that the serious human rights violations in Syria are thoroughly investigated and punished. This also applies to the war crimes committed by the new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammed al-Golani) and to the illegal invasion and occupation of northern Syria by NATO member Turkey,” Sido demanded. “In order to avoid accusations of double standards, Khan must now also investigate against al-Golani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Further, we are calling on the German Federal Government – which had announced to support a process of coming to terms with the crimes of the regime – to work towards a comprehensive investigation of all human rights violations in Syria.”

Islamist al-Golani and his HTS organization are still on the international terror list. “What is less well known is that al-Golani’s former militia, the Al-Nusra Front, and the terrorist network Al-Qaeda were also involved in many war crimes in Syria,” Sido reported. From 2003 until his arrest through the United States in 2006, al-Golani had – according to his own statement – served as a “foot soldier” in the terrorist network Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is responsible for attacks on churches and Shiite mosques, and also for abductions – especially of Christians.

In September 2013, al-Golani had ordered his Al-Nusra militia to raid the ancient Aramaic-Christian village of Maaloula in central Syria. Several Christians were shot dead and six were abducted. On October 21, 2013, the militia attacked Maaloula once again. 13 people were killed and many were injured. In another attack on December 3, 2013, the militia took twelve orthodox nuns hostage. They were kept detained for three months before they were released as part of a hostage deal. Large sums of ransom money are said to have been paid through the Islamist Emirate of Qatar, also to indirectly finance the militia.

Al-Golani and his militia were demonstrably involved in war crimes against the Kurdish people of northern Syria. In 2013, the Al-Nusra Front had attacked the predominantly Kurdish-inhabited city of Ras Al-Ain (Sare Kaniye), killing many people, including Yazidis, Christians and Alawites. Also in April 2013, two Christian dignitaries from the city of Aleppo in northern Syria were abducted in the province of Idlib – near the Turkish border, which was mainly controlled by the Al-Nusra Front: the victims were the Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Mor Gregorius Yohanna Ibrahim, and the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, Boulos Yazigi. Their driver was shot dead on the spot. To date, there has been no sign of life from the two clergymen, who had always advocated for peaceful coexistence.

“The ICC must independently investigate these and many other incidents connected to the Al-Nusra Front. Further, the attacks on the Kurds in northern Syria continue unabated. Mr. Khan must know that, while he shook hands with war criminal Al-Golani on Friday, January 17, the Turkish Air Force attacked Kurdish people near the Euphrates River. Four civilians were killed immediately, and two others later succumbed to their injuries, including the well-known Kurdish actor Bavê Teyar (Jumaa Khalil). Twelve people were injured,” Sido said.