The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based rights group that tracks violence in Syria, has released a statement criticizing US Ambassador Tom Barrack for claiming Syrian government forces were not involved in the mass executions of civilians in Suwayda, southern Syria.
Seven days of clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin who were backed by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government forces left 1,399 people dead, including 196 civilians executed by gunmen affiliated with the Syrian defense and interior ministries, according to the SOHR.
Barrack, who serves as the ambassador to Turkey and as a special envoy to Syria, claimed Syrian government troops didn’t enter Suwayda during the violence. “The Syrian troops haven’t gone into the city. These atrocities that are happening are not happening by the Syrian regime troops. They’re not even in the city because they agreed with Israel that they would not go in,” he told Reuters.
Barrack also claimed that the fighters who entered the city may have been ISIS members disguised as government troops, though HTS and ISIS share a similar ideology. In response, the SOHR said that it “strongly rejects and condemns” Barrack’s comments.
“SOHR considers these statements to lack even the minimum standards of objectivity and neutrality. They not only represent a serious deviation from the envoy’s expected role as a mediator working toward peace and stability among Syrians, but also open the door for further massacres to be committed against other Syrian communities, similar to what has happened to the Druze and Alawites in Suwayda and other regions,” the SOHR said.
“SOHR affirms that it possesses documented evidence, including video footage and credible field testimonies, confirming that the horrific violations, including the execution of civilians, the throwing of young men from upper floors and the killing of a Syrian-American citizen on sectarian grounds, took place on the day Syrian Ministry of Defense personnel entered Suwayda city,” the group added.
The SOHR said that Barrack should not act as a “defense attorney” for “an interim authority that has failed to protect Syrians and whose media and key figures have contributed to fueling sectarian and regional conflict.”
The SOHR has detailed many of the executions in Suwayda, including one where Hosam Saraya, a 35-year-old Syrian American, was shot to death along with seven of his relatives, a massacre that was filmed and posted online.
The SOHR also detailed the killing of Pastor Khaled Maher Mazhar, a Christian convert from the Druze religion who was massacred along with 11 members of his family, including six women. The group said the family was killed by members of the Syrian Defense Ministry. “The perpetrators opened fire directly on everyone inside the house, even extending the killing to include the family’s dog, an act that reflects the extreme brutality of the massacre,” the SOHR said.
Barrack and other US officials have embraced the new Syrian government and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, despite his al-Qaeda past. HTS formed in 2017 as an offshoot of the al-Nusra Front, which was al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria until Sharaa rebranded to gain international support.
HTS took power in Damascus following a lightning offensive that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad. The US had foreknowledge of the offensive and helped a US-backed militia take part in the assault from its base at al-Tanf in southern Syria.
