Human rights watchdog calls for probe into mass grave in Syrian capital

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) — Human Rights Watch has urged the Syrian transitional authorities to secure and investigate a mass grave uncovered in the southern Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon, describing it as a potential mass crime scene.

The call follows a site visit by the rights group on Dec. 11-12, following the fall of Syrian Assad regime, according to a report published on Tuesday by the organization.

Footage of a mass killing on April 16, 2013, showed at least 41 civilians being executed by the Assad regime in Damascus' Tadamon neighborhood. The video emerged on April 27, 2022, causing widespread outrage.

The international watchdog emphasized the urgency of safeguarding evidence to ensure accountability for grave crimes committed during Syria’s civil war. “Without immediate Syrian and international efforts to secure and preserve likely sites of mass crimes for coordinated exhumations and forensic investigations, there is a serious risk that critical evidence for accountability will be lost,” said Hiba Zayadin, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch highlighted the importance of enabling Syrian and international monitors, including the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria and United Nations Commission of Inquiry and Syrian human rights groups, to assist with evidence collection.

The organization called for collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross to help identify remains and provide long-awaited answers to the families of the missing people. “The loved ones of people so brutally killed here deserve to know what happened to them,” Zayadin added.

The group also urged international governments to support local authorities in preserving evidence and ensuring due process for the perpetrators of the Tadamon massacre and similar crimes.

“The international community should provide support to local authorities and relevant groups for the preservation of this site and similar sites across the country so that evidence is collected and those responsible can be held to account,” Zayadin said.

The Tadamon site is among numerous locations across Syria suspected of harboring mass graves from the country’s protracted conflict.

The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, has begun investigating a mass grave discovered on Tuesday near Damascus' Baghdad Bridge neighborhood.

Documented by Anadolu, the mass grave contains trenches filled with human remains and sacks marked with prison codes, indicating that the victims likely died due to torture or in notorious prisons such as Sednaya.

Following the grim discovery, White Helmets teams began securing the site and recovering the remains, which were thought to be victims of the Assad regime's brutal torture.

The discovery of mass grave is part of the ongoing search and recovery efforts in Syria following the fall of the Baath Party regime on Dec. 8.