There is no accountability for atrocities against Syrian minorities, analyst says

FRANCE 24 English

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the Alawite community which the deposed president hails from has been the target of many attacks, including sectarian massacres which killed more than 1,700 people in March. Since the start of this year, dozens of Alawite women have disappeared under suspicious circumstances, or been kidnapped from their homes by armed militants. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to Kawa Hassan, non-resident fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Stimson Centre.  Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

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00:00this is apropos with the motives behind the abductions remain unclear but the

00:07women concerned are all from the same religious minority as ousted dictator

00:12Bashar al-Assad since the start of this year dozens of Alawite women have

00:18disappeared under suspicious circumstances or been kidnapped from

00:22their homes by armed militants spreading fear across the coastal population of

00:27Syria as France 24's Jenna Lebrun reports this man is still shaken he says he

00:36has been receiving death threats for weeks now but has decided to speak out

00:40about what happened to his sister for his safety he does so anonymously

00:50my sister used to take the minibus to work in Tartusen back every day until the

00:55day she was kidnapped like around 60 others the young woman was kidnapped

00:59while she was on her way to the nearby city of Tartus people at the station saw

01:06her get off the bus and then she just disappeared around 2 p.m. my brother got

01:12a call from an Iraqi number the man on the line said don't look for your sister

01:17don't ask about her don't file a complaint your sister's with us and if you try to

01:24look for her or ask questions we'll send her back to you dead

01:28paranoia is descending over this seaside town amidst the mass violence which Sunni rebels carried out

01:49against the Alawites along the Syrian coast this spring women have been particularly vulnerable many of

01:56them no longer feel safe going out alone

02:01this whole kidnapping situation is worrying a lot of people every day two to

02:09three women disappear victims come from all kinds of backgrounds married women

02:15minors university students even school girls this should be taken seriously by all Syrians

02:23this young woman is now reunited with her mother she and her sister are one of the four women who

02:35are known to have safely returned her captors she says were Sunni aren't men driven by a lust for

02:41revenge against the Alawites a concerning claim to the current government since these men may very

02:47well belong to the radical fringes of a new military structure it's really not our fault at all we have

02:54nothing to do with the old regime or any of that the mother continues the story she says her daughters

03:02were released after two months in captivity left on the street in the middle of the night dressed in a

03:07niqab potentially out of fear or shame the women insist they were not abused but other survivors have spoken out

03:16about being humiliated drugged and beaten up

03:19they disappeared on March 23rd and came back on May 24th

03:28my daughters told me that a car stops them and asked them are you Sunni or Alawite when they said

03:37Alawite men got out with weapons forced them into the car and took them away when they got out they

03:47were put in a basement and stayed there for several months these women probably escaped the worst some

03:57families have received proof their loved ones have been executed so far the authorities have not commented

04:03on the matter let's bring in kawa hassan non-resident fellow at the middle east and north africa program

04:10at the stimson center kawa thanks so much for being with us on the program a difficult report there from

04:17our correspondent in syria up to 60 women have disappeared since january from all kinds of

04:23backgrounds all kinds of ages why are these women being targeted do you think and where are they now the

04:29ones who haven't been returned the ones who haven't been killed well obviously they have been targeted for

04:38their you know background because they are Alawites and for radicals jihadi elements in the new cn

04:50government for them you know they they they are part of the the former regime which which is not true I

05:00mean these are you know civilians who had nothing to do with the regime of of of asset they are

05:07Alawites and that is the only you know for them the only problem so this is basically you know sectarianism on

05:17steroid I would say and the the disturbing development is is that so far the government the new organization

05:26as you you know your report said hasn't you know put out any public statements as to why they were you

05:34know kidnapped killed who are the perpetrators because most of them are known actually and you know

05:41armed militants part of the you know the the security apparatus in Syria but you know no official word so

05:49far about these sectarian attacks killings you know kidnapping so it's indeed very disturbing and it's also

06:01you know over this week also we had two very disturbing incidents one in Hama and one in Damascus again

06:09involving Alawites you know civilian Alawites who have nothing to do whatsoever with the with former

06:16regime so in Hama eight people were killed eight you know from from Alawite background and yesterday five

06:25young you know youngsters were killed in Damascus again Alawites you know they were working in a restaurant

06:31in Damascus and they were taken by armed militants and their bodies were found in an in a hospital

06:39and so far again you know the government hasn't put out any any statement as to why they were killed

06:44why they were targeted because of their you know their background and and you know there's when there

06:50is no public statement and there are no actions taken by government to ensure you know um uh you know these

06:57people are are are all accountable it's indeed very very disturbing you know not only for the obviously for

07:03the Alawite community but for the overall human rights situation in posh asasi yeah and also reports

07:08suggest that often the women who are being abducted it's happening during the day while they're going

07:14shopping while they're going to work does that suggest to you that these kidnappers these militants are

07:20acting with impunity with the tacit support perhaps even of authorities well i don't know whether they

07:28they they you know um whether they uh you know they have tacit support of the authorities uh but

07:34definitely you know uh they they do act with impunity you know and the fact that you know so far no one

07:40has been arrested uh you know so far no one has been held accountable so that raises raises serious

07:48questions about the willingness and the um you know the readiness uh of of the government to take action

07:58against these sectarian crimes and this comes as you say we've seen recent incidents in the last few

08:05days even you mentioned the eight people who were killed just yesterday also over 1500 Alawites

08:12targeted in attacks earlier this year while the government was cracking down on pro-assad militants

08:18you've said that the slaughter of Alawites it was a wake-up call for regional and international powers you

08:24said that at the time has it been well um i mean uh not really i mean it it has been a wake-up call

08:34but i haven't seen any concerted action pressure from key players u.s other countries who really have

08:42leveraged with a new government to put pressure on the government and and and to make sure that those who

08:49committed these uh these atrocities are brought to justice as you may recall the government has uh

08:56set up um an official commission to uh you know to ascertain what happened who did what so far it's

09:05been more than two months uh you know the uh no official report has been issued uh even though it doesn't

09:13need so much time to really uh conduct a fact-finding mission because most of the perpetrators they uh

09:20you know they are known they uh they uh they videoed their atrocities and it's it's available for the

09:28commission to really to a certain uh who did what but uh no report has been issued and when you don't have

09:36accountability for those horrible crimes committed in march that you know basically

09:43um you know uh gives these new atrocities you know you know uh human rights violations we have spoken

09:51about yesterday and last week and the kidnapping of of of these alabites you know um girls that is

09:59because there hasn't been any accountability for the atrocities committed in march so yes it has been a

10:06wake-up call but i haven't really seen any tangible uh international action to put pressure on government

10:16to uh you know to to bring those perpetrators to uh to justice unfortunately and what kind of

10:23pressure needs to be applied we've seen the easing of sanctions by both the eu also the us we saw very

10:29high profile meeting between syrian leaders and donald trump so at this point what needs to be done and

10:34will it be done well i think what needs to be done is is is very clear i mean what needs to be done

10:41is that uh us uh you know countries with leverage with their new government they should publicly call

10:50on government to uh you know um to make sure that those who commit these atrocities crimes not only

10:59against alavis but also against other groups you know druz or whoever you know that in addition to

11:05lifting sanctions which is really a very good step and uh you know it's it's good for the syrian people

11:12definitely and that should be applauded and commended you know but only lifting sanctions without also

11:19you know calling on the government to respect human rights and to make sure that those who were are

11:27responsible for previous and current um human rights violations against alibi's against jews against

11:35you know other groups uh that they are that they should be uh brought to justice they should hold

11:40accountable and and basically what we need here is um you know calls and actions by by uh by these

11:49governments to put pressure on the on the syrian government to make sure that you know um that uh you know

11:56that that that perpetrators are hold to account and that syrians uh you know whether alivites kurds

12:03druz but also you know other syrians really feel that the new syria is different from the the sea of

12:09ascent cow we'll have to leave it there for now but thanks so much for joining us on the program

12:15that is kawa hassan there from the stimson center

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