Amnesty International has released a new report related to the massacres in Syria’s Suwayda Governorate, confirming that the government and their allies summarily executed dozens of Druze civilians in the course of the crackdown.
The report cited verified videos and eyewitness testimonies related to the violence on July 15 and July 16, and concluded that 46 Druze men and women were deliberately and unlawfully killed. This is just a fraction of the overall death toll in the crackdown on the Druze, which left well over 1,400 killed and was said to involve several hundred summary executions.
Syria’s Interior Ministry issued a statement welcoming the new report from Amnesty, saying they view the report positively and hope it will help them extend the rule of law. As with the massacre against the Alawites, the massacre against the Druze in Suwayda has led to a promised committee to investigate the matter.
Aftermath of Suwayda fighting | Image from SOHR
Though the government was similarly repeatedly implicated in executing Alawites, the committee in that case never really managed to hold anyone accountable. There is similar pessimism about the Druze committee among many, who see the Islamist government’s policy is maintaining pretense of unity while giving impunity to their Islamist allies.
The Suwayda violence started with clashes between Druze and Bedouin locals, and when the national government deployed to the area to “restore order” they cracked down heavily on the Druze, killing large numbers of them.
Though large scale killings seem to have subsided, there remains substantial anger among locals in Suwayda, with a large protest being carried out over the weekend both calling for removal of government forces and for the right to self determination for the people of Suwayda.
Last week, the government announced they intend to postpone elections in several parts of the country, including Suwayda, because they reckon those areas to be “unsafe.” Since Suwayda has the largest Druze population in the country, this almost certainly means they’ll have little to no representation in the new government.
In addition to violence against the Druze minority in Suwayda, there have been reports that pro-government militants are burning Christian churches in the area. Details are still scant on this, but concerns about safety in the region continue.
