Massacres of Alawite people

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sees evidence for genocide crimes against the Alawite minority in Syria and is calling on the German government to take immediate action.

“Under the pretext of trying to arrest former supporters of the Assad regime, the new Islamist leaders in Syria are now carrying out raids to arrest members of the Alawite minority and to publicly execute them. It is especially women and children who become victims of these executions. The aim of these attacks is to annihilate the Alawite people,” explained Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East Correspondent, in Göttingen today.

“We are once again calling on the German Federal Government and all democratic parties in Germany to advocate for an end to the fighting along the Syrian Mediterranean coast and to do everything possible to prevent a genocide of the Alawite community. The German government should immediately call for an investigative commission on a UN level, staffed with international experts on genocide crimes – as we cannot trust the Syrian investigative commission,” the Society for Threatened Peoples demanded.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) – a partner organization of the Society for Threatened Peoples – has counted more than 1,400 deaths along the Syrian coast. Apparently, at least 973 civilians have been killed since March 6. Most of the victims are Alawite civilians, women and children. “I am receiving desperate calls from people reporting that entire families were wiped out. There are circulating videos of executions, showing horrific scenes,” the Middle East Consultant reported. 

“Now, the crimes of the Arab Baath regime under Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafiz al-Assad are being used as justification for a new genocide. Both of them did not primarily identify as Alawites, but as Muslims who prayed in Sunni mosques behind Sunni imams,” stated the historian, who was born in Syria. “The recent massacres are part of a series of massacres Sunni Islamists perpetrated against the Alawites throughout history. The incitement against the Alawites, which started at the beginning of the current Syria crisis, is now turning into massive violence against the Alawite people – with the aim of wiping out the Alawite community completely,” Sido explained.  

As with any genocide, the pattern is the same. One group is classified as a victim, followed by dehumanization and plans for its extinction. In Syria, all Alawites are said to be Assad supporters, and conspiracy theories are used to bring about a polarization of society. Using social media, the Syrian Islamist leaders are spreading rumors that the Alawites, Kurds, and Druze in Syria could join forces with the Jews and with Israel – which is why they could, allegedly, be a danger not only to the Sunni state, but also to Turkey, where there are around 40 million Alawites and Kurds.

“We are calling on both German politicians and the media not to trivialize the dangers of Islamism for minority groups and women. Such trivializations have often been paid for bitterly throughout history,” the human rights advocate added.

Representatives of the Alawites in Germany are speaking of a genocide campaign against members of their religious community in Syria – and they are also accusing Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Emir of Qatar, both Sunni Islamists and supporters of the und new Sunni Islamist leaders in Syria, of being involved.