In December 2024, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) was among the many human rights NGOs who welcomed the end of the dictatorial era in Syria and all held out hope for a new era of respect for human rights for all citizens without exception. However, there have been troubling human rights violations and sectarian violence committed in the country, including the murder of many civilians and attacks on media.

GCHR has received credible reports of the horrific scale of violence that has spread along the Syrian coast since 06 March 2025, and the days that followed.

Hundreds of civilian deaths have been documented, including summary executions of entire families, including women, children, and the elderly.

These systematic killings were carried out in the Governorates of Tartous, Latakia and Hama by unidentified armed groups, individuals claiming to be part of the security forces of the new Syrian government, and elements affiliated with and supported by the previous government.

The killings were based on identity, and victims were asked about their religious affiliation before decisions were made to kill or spare them.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented over 800 extrajudicial murders between 06-10 March 2025, and said that “at least nine activists and media workers were directly targeted while covering clashes between the armed forces participating in military operations and non-state armed groups” linked to the former government, in Latakia and Tartous.

Homes and businesses were also looted and robbed, forcing many residents to flee their homes for safer areas.  

On 08 March 2025, writer and human rights activist Hanadi Zahlout (photo above), whose three brothers were killed in the massacre in the Alawite village of Sanobar Jableh on the Syrian coast, posted the following on her Facebook page: “I mourn the loss of my three brothers: the virtuous educator Ahmed Zahlout, the virtuous educator Abdulmohsen Zahlout, and the well-known moralist Ali Zahlout. They were killed yesterday, and we consider them martyrs before God, along with dozens of other men from the village who were taken from their homes and executed in the field. We only ask that the lives of the remaining women and children be protected, so that we can bury our dead.”

Following this tragedy, Zahlout demanded transitional justice for all Syrians and that those responsible for violations be held accountable. On 02 April 2025, she also posted the following on her page: “Syria desperately needs to be united by demanding justice for all criminals after it was united by grief. May you be safe, Syria… may you be safe, my mother.”

United Nations Advocacy

During the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 58th session, on 17 March 2025, GCHR co-sponsored an event on Upholding Fundamental Freedoms & Rights: The Role of Syrian #CivilSociety in Enabling Syria’s Path to Democracy and the Rule of Law. The event was organised with partners including the Syrian Centre for Media and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), and had speakers from DAR Association of Victims of Forced Displacement, Syrians for Truth and Justice and the White Helmets. Watch the video here (in Arabic).

Also at the UNHRC, GCHR and CIHRS mobilised civil society in discussions on a resolution on the Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, where it remains on the agenda among the most serious items, known as Item 4. Syrian authorities also participated in this discussion. The resolution “extend(s)s the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic for a period of one year; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to strengthen the resources of the Commission of Inquiry in order for it to completely fulfil its mandate within the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular with regard to security and logistical support and victim protection expertise, welcomes the broad access granted by the interim authorities to the Commission, and encourages the interim authorities to grant the Commission necessary access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic and to cooperate closely with the Commission….”

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the Syrian authorities to:

1. Ensure that sectarian violence is curbed, and all those responsible for human rights violations are held accountable through the law, according to international legal standards;
2. Support the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry to investigate violations, and implement a strategy of transitional justice; and
3. Promote respect for civic space, including the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Main photo and second photo credit: Ghias Aljundi