Violences et crimes de guerre contre les Alaouites

Violence and war crimes against the Alawites

Syria

According to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, these violence “culminated in massacres in early March” and aimed “mainly the Alawite communities”. These violence broke out on the Syrian coast, where the security forces of the new power and their allies were accused of having carried out summary executions. The report specifies that “the atrocities identified include acts that can constitute war crimes”, and that, in several localities, men identified as Alawites were separated from women and children before being executed. The waves of violence committed by government forces against the Alaouite minority since January on the coast and the west center of Syria have been “generalized and systematic”, said independent investigators mandated by the United Nations Council of Human Rights on Thursday, noting that these abuses could, in certain cases, constitute “war crimes”. “The extent and brutality of the violence described in our report are deeply worrying,” said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the president of this commission of inquiry, calling on “the interim authorities to continue their efforts to translate all those responsible, regardless of their affiliation or their grade”. This commission, created in August 2011 by the Human Rights Council, claims to have documented cases of “murders, torture and inhuman treatments inflicted on the dead, as well as large -scale looting and housing fires, which led to the movement of tens of thousands of civilians”. These abuses “include acts that can constitute war crimes”. “Some of these atrocious acts have been filmed and disseminated on social networks, accompanied by images showing ill -treated and humiliated civilians,” added the commission, which calls into question “members of the forces of the interim government, civilians acting alongside them or nearby and fighters loyal to the former government”. UN investigators note that certain government units have tried to protect civilians, but that other factions have committed summary executions and acts of torture in several Alawite Villages and Quartiers, “both generalized and systematic”. The Commission has documented constant schemes of violence against the civilian population in several places, including targeted attacks based on religious affiliation, age and sex, as well as collective executions. “If dozens of alleged perpetrators have since been arrested, the extent of the documented violence in our report justifies a strengthening of these efforts, has since been arrested,” added Mr. Pinheiro. “Beyond the dismissal of alleged perpetrators to criminal justice, people suspected of having participated in violations at the events of March should be immediately removed from their functions pending the results of the investigation,” said another expert from the Commission, Lynn Welchman. The urgency of such an action is obvious in view of the alleged violations and abuses committed during recent events in the governorate of Souweida, which are currently under investigation by the Commission. Especially since since the tragic events of last March, the independent UN investigators continue to receive “information that clarifies persistent violations in many affected areas, including abductions of women, arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances, as well as looting and occupations of goods”. The violence that occurred have aggravated the existing divisions between communities, helping to create a climate of fear and insecurity among many Syrians throughout the country.
Samir Sabek/UN