{"id":55374,"date":"2025-07-11T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/?p=55374"},"modified":"2025-07-11T06:00:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:00:54","slug":"report-details-killings-discrimination-against-religious-minorities-in-post-assad-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/learn\/report-details-killings-discrimination-against-religious-minorities-in-post-assad-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Relat\u00f3rio detalha assassinatos e discrimina\u00e7\u00e3o contra minorias religiosas na S\u00edria p\u00f3s-Assad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n Mourners gather in the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa, Damascus, for the funeral of many who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria\u2019s capital on Sunday, June 22, 2025. \/ Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai\/ACI MENA<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 7, 2025 \/ 17:51 pm (CNA).<\/p>\n

Allies of the new Syrian government and other non-state actors have continued violence and discrimination against Christians, Druze, and Shia Muslims, according to a new report<\/a> from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).<\/p>\n

Syrian rebels, many of whom were affiliated with Hay\u2019at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime in late 2024. The report notes that HTS members, many of whom were foreign fighters, engaged in mass killings and other forms of persecution against religious minorities during the overthrow of Assad and have continued violations after taking control of the government.<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, commanded HTS during the revolution. He was also previously a member of al-Qaeda. In addition to HTS, the report also noted that members of Turkish-backed political opposition and militias (TSOs) and other organizations that engaged in mass killings and religious liberty violations have been welcomed into high-ranking positions in the new Syrian government.<\/p>\n

Despite these developments, the new Syrian government has vowed to protect religious liberty as it sets up its new government. U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has sought to work with the new leadership and has lifted sanctions and removed HTS\u2019 designation as a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

The USCIRF is encouraging the Trump administration to impose conditions on sanction removals that require improvements in religious liberty. The report also encourages the U.S. government to impose targeted sanctions on people and organizations that continue violations of religious liberty. <\/p>\n

USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi told CNA that the commission\u2019s primary concern for Syria\u2019s Christians and other religious minorities is \u201cthat the transitional authorities\u2019 actual policies and actions match their claims of supporting a religiously inclusive future for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. administration must condition its lifting of sanctions with clear measures so that the emerging government fully abandons its extremist past, extends equal protection to all religious minorities, and enshrines comprehensive religious freedom into Syria\u2019s laws and institutions,\u201d Elsanousi said.<\/p>\n

Religious persecution and killings<\/h2>\n

The most egregious violence after the new government took control was waged against Alawite Muslims \u2014 a Shia sect to which Assad and many of his allies belonged \u2014 and against Druze \u2014 an Abrahamic religion that is separate from Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.<\/p>\n

According to the report, unidentified rebels burned the homes of civilian Alawites in Latakia and waged an arson attack against an Alawite shrine in Aleppo last December. It also notes that men who may have been affiliated with the new government executed Alawites and members of the Twelver Shia sect in the Hama province.<\/p>\n

The report notes in January and February, HTS loyalists conducted \u201cdoor-to-door interrogations and select executions\u201d of Alawite Muslims around the Mediterranean coast. In March, the report adds, \u201cthe murders escalated to full-blown sectarian massacres\u201d of Alawites in Latakia and Tartus based on allegations of \u201cpro-Assad remnants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTallies put the confirmed death toll at between 1,700 and 2,246, with the caveat that the actual numbers might be much higher,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The report references additional reports of civilian massacres of Alawites \u201cwith no known links to the Assad regime\u201d during that time frame. It states that persecutions against Alawites seem to have decreased since March but that as recently as May, there were reports of fighters who may have been affiliated with the government kidnapping Alawites.<\/p>\n

Additionally, \u201ca new wave of killings\u201d against Druze began in April, according to the report. This includes \u201cmilitant Islamist\u201d supporters of the new government killing 134 people in a suburb of Damascus that month.<\/p>\n

In March, Syriac Orthodox Christians who lived near the anti-Alawite violence reported that the Christian death toll was \u201cthree people,\u201d but other persecutions against Christians took place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIslamist militia members regularly intimidated and taunted Christians at checkpoints and looted the homes of Christians with no known links to the Assad regime,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The report notes that the new government has retained many HTS fighters, including \u201cthe most militant violators of religious freedom during the Syrian civil war,\u201d within the military. People who are associated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) hold high positions in the government as well.<\/p>\n

For example, intelligence chief Anas Khattab is a former al-Qaeda commander. Abu Hatem Shaqra, who was given a high-level military position, personally participated in executions and other forms of religious persecution \u201csuch as recruitment of ISIS members and trafficking of Yazidi women and girls into sexual and domestic slavery,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

The future of Syria<\/h2>\n

In spite of these religious liberty violations, the report notes that the new government has stated its intent to be \u201cinclusive of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new government has taken credit for thwarting a planned ISIS attack against a Shia shrine and denounced an ISIS attack that killed 25 worshippers at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. It also held a one-day conference to speak with representatives of minority religions.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, the new government intends to maintain HTS control for a transitional five-year period. It also notes that after the conference with the minority religions, the government expressed its intent to enshrine Islamic jurisprudence as \u201cthe major source of legislation.\u201d After the conference, it notes that the government only expressed its intent to safeguard Christians, Muslims, and Jews, but not other religions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent bombing of the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church<\/a> in Damascus and massacres earlier this year targeting Alawis in Syria\u2019s coastal areas serve as tragic reminders that these communities remain under serious threat of violence,\u201d Elsanousi said.<\/p>\n

Jeff King, the president of International Christian Concern, told CNA the report \u201cexposes the failure of Syria\u2019s transitional government \u2026 to protect its Christian minority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis illegitimate regime, composed of rebranded al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives, has done little to curb radical Islam\u2019s campaign to eradicate Christianity in Syria,\u201d he said. King called the bombing of Mar Elias Church in Damascus, which killed 25 Christians<\/a>, \u201ca stark example\u201d of \u201congoing persecution enabled by the government\u2019s inaction or complicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Catholic community worldwide must advocate for Syria\u2019s dwindling Christian population, which is now a fraction of its prewar size, and press the international community to reject the legitimacy of this jihadist-led government and demand robust protections for religious minorities,\u201d King emphasized.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/265229\/report-details-killings-discrimination-against-religious-minorities-in-post-assad-syria<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mourners gather in the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa, Damascus, for the funeral of many who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria\u2019s capital on Sunday, June 22, 2025. \/ Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai\/ACI MENA Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 7, 2025 \/ 17:51 [\u2026]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":56206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-55374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-news"],"mb":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/christianpure.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Report-details-killings-discrimination-against-religious-minorities-in-post-Assad-Syria.webp?fit=800%2C533&quality=75&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"mfb_rest_fields":["title","jetpack_publicize_connections","jetpack_featured_media_url","jetpack-related-posts","jetpack_sharing_enabled"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55374"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianpure.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=55374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}