Human rights activists have discovered a mass grave near the Syrian capital Damascus containing at least 100,000 victims of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Points of attention
- The discovery of a mass grave near Damascus reveals the atrocities committed by the Assad regime, with at least 100,000 victims buried in just one of five recorded mass graves in the region.
- Citizens of other countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, are among the victims of the mass burials, highlighting the extent of human rights violations by the Syrian regime.
- Human rights activists emphasize the urgent need to protect these burial sites to preserve crucial evidence for future investigations into the systematic killings and torture of Syrians under the Assad regime.
- The Syrian Air Force's intelligence department was involved in transporting bodies to mass graves, indicating state-led atrocities carried out with impunity.
- Testimonies from workers who escaped the country provide insights into the scale of the mass graves, with estimates suggesting the actual number of victims could be much higher than currently known.
What is known about the mass burial of victims of the Assad regime near Damascus?
According to the publication's journalists, this is only one of 5 such mass graves.
According to Muaz Mustafa, head of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, the information about these burials is based on the testimonies of workers who were able to escape the country.
"100,000 is the most conservative estimate of the number of bodies buried at this site. This is a very, very conservative estimate," the human rights activist emphasized.
He notes that there may be significantly more mass graves in Syria than 5.
What is known about the Assad regime's mass burials of the bodies of thousands of Syrians tortured to death?
Among the dead, in addition to Syrians, are citizens of the United States, Great Britain, and other countries.
Muaz Mustafa emphasized that the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate carried out the transportation of the bodies.
They were first taken to military hospitals, where they were tortured to death, and then transferred to various intelligence units. Later, the bodies were taken to mass graves.
The human rights activist emphasized that the Damascus Municipal Funeral Home was used for the burials, whose employees helped unload the bodies from the refrigerated trucks.
Human rights activists spoke with drivers and bulldozer operators who were forced to dig mass graves.
According to Mustafa, workers were often ordered to compact the bodies so they would fit into the graves and then cover them with earth.
The human rights activist is concerned that these burial sites remain unprotected. Mustava stressed the need to preserve them in order to preserve evidence for future investigations.
