A UN Syria Commission report says both interim government forces and fighters loyal to the ousted Assad regime likely committed war crimes during March’s coastal massacres targeting the Alawite minority.
The violence, which killed around 1,400 people, involved door-to-door executions, torture, and desecration of bodies, with some killings filmed by perpetrators.
Syria’s interim authorities have pledged accountability, while the UN urges stronger safeguards to prevent repetition as investigations continue in multiple provinces.
War crimes were likely committed by both Syria’s interim government forces and fighters loyal to the country’s former rulers during a wave of sectarian violence in March that culminated in massacres along the coast, UN investigators said on Thursday.
According to the 56-page report by the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry, around 1,400 civilians were killed in the coastal violence, much of it targeting members of the Alawite minority once led by former President Bashar al-Assad. The atrocities, based on over 200 victim and witness interviews and visits to three mass grave sites, included murder, torture, and inhumane treatment of the dead, reported Reuters.
The report details how attackers, going door to door in Alawite neighborhoods, filmed executions. Perpetrators included members of interim government forces and private individuals operating alongside them, while Assad loyalists also committed violations.
The commission stressed that its findings are partial, with investigations ongoing into incidents in Homs, Latakia, and Tartus.
In a formal response, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said the report’s conclusions align with the government’s own findings and reaffirmed a commitment to implement its recommendations as part of “institution-building and consolidation of the rule of law” in the post-Assad era.
There has been no public comment from former Syrian officials, many of whom are now abroad. The US Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, welcomed the UN report as a “serious step” toward accountability, noting that Washington is gradually lifting sanctions imposed during Assad’s rule.
A Reuters investigation last month found that nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed in the March attacks and traced the chain of command from the assailants to individuals tied to Syria’s new leadership. New Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called the violence a threat to national unity and pledged to punish those responsible.
While acknowledging interim authorities’ efforts, the UN report said the scale of the massacres require additional measures, stressing that “guarantees of non-repetition” must be central to Syria’s transition.
