In rural Damascus, the remains of at least 26 individuals who are presumed victims of the Bashar Assad regime were uncovered by Syrian civil defense teams on Tuesday. This grim find contributes to the increasing number of mass graves discovered since the regime’s decline in December. Among the remains, which are thought to include men, women, and children, signs of gunshot wounds and burning were evident.
Rescue workers from the White Helmets, a volunteer civil defense organization, exhumed the deteriorated skeletal remains from the basements of two locations in the town of Sbeneh, situated southwest of the capital. Equipped with protective gear, they meticulously documented each set of remains before placing them in body bags, which were later loaded onto trucks for further processing.
According to Abed al-Rahman Mawwas, a member of the White Helmets, since November 28, over 780 bodies have been unearthed, with the majority lacking any identification. Many of these were located in shallow graves that locals or animals had uncovered. The remains are then handed over to forensic experts to help establish identities, the timeline of death, and causes of mortality, in an effort to connect them with potential family members. “Undoubtedly, this work requires many years to complete,” Mawwas remarked.
One local resident, Mohammad al-Herafe, recounted the overpowering smell of decaying bodies that his family encountered upon returning to Sbeneh in 2016, after having fled the violence that erupted during the civil war in 2011. He mentioned that they discovered the bodies in a basement but opted not to report the situation due to fears of governmental retaliation. “We couldn’t inform the authorities because we understood that they were behind these acts,” he explained.
Over the course of more than two decades, the Assad regime employed a range of brutal tactics, including aerial bombardments targeting civilian areas, torture, executions, and mass detentions, all aimed at controlling Syria and silencing dissent during the extensive civil conflict.
Ammar al-Salmo, another member of civil defense involved in the operations at the second site, highlighted the need for additional investigation to identify the discovered victims. “Resident testimonies and accounts from those who were present during heightened conflicts in 2013 are crucial for our work,” he stated.
Mohammad Shebat, who resided in the second building where bodies were found, remarked that he vacated the area in 2012 and only returned in 2020, when he and others discovered the remains and sought their removal. However, he reported a lack of cooperation in addressing the situation. He believes that the victims were likely civilians fleeing the Al-Assali neighborhood, where the government had initiated a siege in 2013. “The former regime would often confine people in basements, burn them with tires, and abandon their bodies,” he recalled. “There are multiple basements like this, filled with skeletons.”
A report published recently by the United Nations Syria Commission of Inquiry suggested that these mass graves could serve as crucial evidence in uncovering the fates of thousands who have gone missing. The report, detailing 14 years of investigations backed by over 2,000 witness statements, including more than 550 torture survivors, described how detainees endured severe torture, malnutrition, and illness in infamous Syrian prisons. Many either succumbed to agonizing slow deaths or were taken away for execution.
The regime’s downfall on December 8 spurred numerous families to comb through prisons and morgues in a desperate search for their loved ones. While some were released after years of detention, countless individuals remain missing, with their circumstances still a mystery. The U.N. commission has asserted that forensic examinations of mass graves, along with the preservation of evidence and crime scenes, could potentially offer grieving families insight into the truth.
This commission was established in 2011 by the Human Rights Council with the mandate to investigate alleged breaches of international human rights laws in Syria. The report documented appalling torture practices implemented by the former regime, encompassing “extreme physical abuse, electric shocks, burning, nail extraction, dental damage, sexual violence including mutilation, enforced stress positions, and denial of necessary medical care.”
“For Syrians who are still unable to locate their relatives among those released, this evidence, inclusive of testimonies from freed detainees, may present the best opportunity for uncovering the truth concerning their missing family members,” remarked Commissioner Lynn Welchman.
