Human rights activists call for withdrawal of invitation to Syrian leader al-Sharaa

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) strongly criticizes the planned visit of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (Islamist combat name Mohammed al-Golani) to Berlin and calls for his invitation to be revoked. “The German government is deliberately courting a top Islamist, terrorist, and war criminal. This is not only ignorant but also irresponsible,” emphasizes the STP’s Middle East consultant, Dr. Kamal Sido. “We expressly call on Chancellor Merz to rescind al-Sharaa’s invitation. His reception sends a devastating signal to all those who advocate for democracy, women’s rights, and freedom of religion in Syria. Al-Scharaa must be arrested and brought to trial, not welcomed with a red-carpet reception.”

Following the cancellation of his visit in January, al-Scharaa is scheduled to arrive in Berlin on Monday (March 30) and be received by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz. As early as January, the STP and numerous associations representing ethnic and religious minorities from Syria called on the German federal government to cancel al-Sharaa’s invitation. In this context, numerous rallies and vigils took place, sharply criticizing the federal government’s dealings with the Islamist regime in Damascus.

“Due to the regime’s brutal crackdown on minorities, women, and opposition figures, Syria faces the threat of a new civil war and the permanent fragmentation of the country. It is absurd that the federal government is courting and inviting the man responsible for this in order to facilitate deportations. The situation in Syria is anything but safe. This is also evident from the fact that since the fall of the Assad regime, hardly any Syrians have voluntarily returned to their homeland,” says the human rights activist.

With its Syria policy, the federal government is endangering not only the safety and lives of ethnic and religious minorities in Syria, but also peaceful coexistence in Germany. “Al-Sharaa and his regime are spreading their inhuman ideology even among Syrians in Germany. They are inciting hatred against Druze, Alawites, and Kurds, as well as against Jews and Israel,” emphasizes the STP’s Middle East consultant.

The career of Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa – an overview:

The list of war crimes for which al-Sharaa is directly responsible or in which he was at least indirectly involved is long.

As early as 2003, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad—who was overthrown in 2024—released thousands of Sunni Islamists, including al-Sharaa, from prisons. They were to fight in Iraq against the U.S. troops that had invaded the country. Al-Sharaa fought there in the ranks of radical Sunni terrorist militias such as al-Qaeda. He carried out attacks not only against U.S. troops but also against Christian churches. The terror against minorities forced tens of thousands of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Arameans, and Mandaeans from southern Iraq to flee. Many found refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Due to the crimes he committed, the U.S. arrested al-Sharaa. After his release in 2011, he went to Syria and founded several Islamist terrorist organizations on behalf of the international Islamist network al-Qaeda.

He also carried out attacks in Syria, primarily against Alawite civilians, but also against Syrian democrats who were fighting against the Assad dictatorship at the time. The U.S. subsequently placed him on the list of the world’s most wanted terrorists and offered a bounty of ten million U.S. dollars for him.

After seizing power in December 2024, al-Sharaa continued to commit war crimes in Syria. Under the pretext of fighting Assad’s supporters, he had between 30,000 and 60,000 Alawites murdered, injured, or displaced in March 2025. Numerous women were abducted and raped. In July 2025, he ordered an attack on the Druze minority in southern Syria. Here, too, the attackers abducted and raped many women and set numerous Druze villages on fire. In late 2025 and early 2026, his regime began systematically attacking and displacing the Kurds in northern Syria. The Kurdish autonomous region “Rojava” was largely destroyed in the process, and tens of thousands of ISIS supporters were released from prisons—including those who had participated in the 2014 genocide against the Yazidis. Christian communities in Syria are also repeatedly attacked. Although al-Sharaa claims to protect Christians, in reality he is pushing forward a creeping Islamization that robs Christians and other religious minorities of any future in Syria. Al-Sharaa is attempting to restrict alcohol consumption and music to only the Christian neighborhoods of Damascus, Aleppo, and other Christian communities. In other parts of the country, where mainly Sunni Muslims live, alcohol and music are gradually being banned from public life.

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at presse@gfbv.de.