HRW: Syrian Forces Executed 248 in Two Villages in May

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Syrian regime forces executed at least 248 people in the villages of Bayda and Banias earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said Friday, calling for Damascus to be held accountable.

In a report, the New York-based rights group said it had compiled a list of the names of 248 people killed in the two villages in coastal Tartus province on May 2 and 3.

But it said the number was probably much higher, and called the deaths "one of the deadliest instances of mass summary executions since the start of the conflict in Syria.”

The report comes as the international community discusses a plan for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons, after an alleged chemical attack that killed hundreds of people on August 21.

HRW said the deaths in Bayda and Banias served as a reminder that other weapons were also being used in Syria's conflict.

"While the world's attention is on ensuring that Syria's government can no longer use chemical weapons against its population, we shouldn't forget that Syrian government forces have used conventional means to slaughter civilians," HRW's acting Middle East director Joe Stork said.

"Survivors told us devastating stories of how their unarmed relatives were mowed down in front of them by government and pro-government forces."

The deaths were widely reported in May, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO putting the final tolls at 162 dead in Bayda and 145 dead in Banias.

The group says at least 110,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria began in March 2011.

Earlier this week, U.N. investigators said forces loyal to President Bashar Assad "have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the civilian population, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance as crimes against humanity".

The villages of Bayda and Banias are majority Sunni, while the areas surrounding them are largely Alawite -- the religious minority to which Assad belongs.

The deaths were denounced at the time by the Syrian opposition as a "sectarian massacre.”

HRW said that most of those killed were executed after military clashes between rebels and government forces had ended.

In Bayda, "the forces entered homes, separated men from women, rounded up the men of each neighborhood in one spot, and executed them by shooting them at close range," the group said.

"Human Rights Watch also documented the execution of at least 23 women and 14 children, including infants," the report said.

HRW said witnesses described pro-government forces burning dozens of dead bodies, as well as burning and looting homes after the executions.

The report said that both regular government troops and members of the pro-regime militia known as the National Defence Force had taken part in the killings.

"In some cases, government and pro-government forces executed, or attempted to execute, entire families," the group said.

In one case documented in Bayda, 26 members of one family -- nine men, three women and 14 children -- were executed.

The sole survivor was a three-year-old girl who was reportedly wounded by three bullets, but lived.

HRW called on the United Nations to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and insist that Damascus cooperate with a U.N. inquiry.

"The Security Council has the opportunity to deter future killings -- not just by chemical weapons, but by all means and by all parties -- by referring the situation to the ICC," Stork said.

Comments 11
Thumb Roaring-FlameThrower 13 September 2013, 08:45

LOL @ HRW...! "Banias was an insurgency that was swiftly contained. This is war, and in war sometimes women and children die. Deal with it Haboub".... Oh, those words still resonate in my ears to this moment.

Default-user-icon ABU BAKR al BAGHDADI (Guest) 13 September 2013, 10:38

For every Muslim (Shia are not Muslim) the Shia Rafidah killed
We are the MUJAHIDIN Will kill 9999999 times Shia!!!!!

We will kill you when you eat when you sleep when you drive and when you pray to satan

ALLAHU AKBAR !!!!

Thumb justice 13 September 2013, 12:00

hey abu abbas, go play in dahiyeh with your friends. You are not fooling anybody. Loser

Thumb _mowaten_ 13 September 2013, 12:22

justice why do you have to slander the people living in dahiyeh all the time? the dude above is a loser, agreed, but your sectarian stigmatization makes as much of a loser as him.

Missing peace 13 September 2013, 11:22

poor FT no compassion whatsoever as long as civilians are killed by your beloved bashar.... they must be terrorists as they were killed!
you are disgusting, no wonder from an FPMer....

Thumb _mowaten_ 13 September 2013, 11:46

oh the hypocrisy! peace i never saw you expressing compassion for all the victims of the rebels and takfiris, be it the ones they bombed, beheaded or shot in syria or in lebanon. you're in no position to be giving humanity lessons

Thumb _mowaten_ 13 September 2013, 11:48

and about human rights watch, it's sad to see you guys taking everything that calls itself "independent" at face value, no questions asked.
check out who the founder of HRW are, Robert Bernstein, Aryeh Neier, both fervent zionists.

Thumb justice 13 September 2013, 11:57

But when the HRW talks about human rights violations in Bahrain, they become non-zionist, credible, and heroes for exposing the tyrants of Bahrain. When HRW talks about human rights violations in Egypt, Libya, KSA, Saddam-Iraq, people like you applaud them. Shame on you and your sectarianism.!

Thumb _mowaten_ 13 September 2013, 12:14

"justice" we dont need HRW to know what happened in bahrein egypt libya ksa palestine or elsewhere, actually we're better off getting that info from credible sources.

Missing peace 13 September 2013, 19:39

i bet elmanar OTV irna or nbn are your objective sources! you make me laugh mowaten and FT the lecturers thinking you know everything... but when it suits your propaganda you use what HRW says when they denounce bahrein or else!!!! no problem there!! typical sign of a complex of superiority...

the day we ll see you criticize the horrors made by bashar then you will be credible till then you are just two illeterate brainwashed M8ers....

oh! and mowaten, i have also criticized horrors made by the islamists... you are just too blinded by your hatred to be objective...
keep up the comedy, you are both such an interesting social study cases about pro assad and pro dictatorship people..... LOL

Thumb justice 13 September 2013, 12:02

Thanks for the article. The Nun talked about care and attention from both the regime and the rebels.