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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’s capital on Sunday, June 22, 2025. / Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai/ACI MENA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 7, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).
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 from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Syrian rebels, many of whom were affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s 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.
Syria’s 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.
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’s administration has sought to work with the new leadership and has lifted sanctions and removed HTS’ designation as a terrorist organization.
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.
USCIRF Commissioner Mohamed Elsanousi told CNA that the commission’s primary concern for Syria’s Christians and other religious minorities is “that the transitional authorities’ actual policies and actions match their claims of supporting a religiously inclusive future for the country.”
“The 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’s laws and institutions,” Elsanousi said.
Religious persecution and killings
The most egregious violence after the new government took control was waged against Alawite Muslims — a Shia sect to which Assad and many of his allies belonged — and against Druze — an Abrahamic religion that is separate from Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
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.
The report notes in January and February, HTS loyalists conducted “door-to-door interrogations and select executions” of Alawite Muslims around the Mediterranean coast. In March, the report adds, “the murders escalated to full-blown sectarian massacres” of Alawites in Latakia and Tartus based on allegations of “pro-Assad remnants.”
“Tallies put the confirmed death toll at between 1,700 and 2,246, with the caveat that the actual numbers might be much higher,” the report states.
The report references additional reports of civilian massacres of Alawites “with no known links to the Assad regime” 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.
Additionally, “a new wave of killings” against Druze began in April, according to the report. This includes “militant Islamist” supporters of the new government killing 134 people in a suburb of Damascus that month.
In March, Syriac Orthodox Christians who lived near the anti-Alawite violence reported that the Christian death toll was “three people,” but other persecutions against Christians took place.
“Islamist militia members regularly intimidated and taunted Christians at checkpoints and looted the homes of Christians with no known links to the Assad regime,” the report states.
The report notes that the new government has retained many HTS fighters, including “the most militant violators of religious freedom during the Syrian civil war,” 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.
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 “such as recruitment of ISIS members and trafficking of Yazidi women and girls into sexual and domestic slavery,” according to the report.
The future of Syria
In spite of these religious liberty violations, the report notes that the new government has stated its intent to be “inclusive of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.”
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.
或者，新政府打算在五年的过渡期内保持HTS控制。 它还注意到，在与少数宗教会议之后，政府表示打算将伊斯兰法理学作为『立法的主要来源』。 会议结束后，政府只表示打算保护基督徒、穆斯林和犹太人，而不是其他宗教。
最近的爆炸事件 Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church 在大马士革和今年早些时候针对叙利亚沿海地区的阿拉维斯的大屠杀，悲惨地提醒人们，这些社区仍然面临严重的暴力威胁，"Elsanousi说。
国际基督教关注组织(International Christian Concern)主席杰夫·金(Jeff King)告诉CNA，这份报告"揭露了叙利亚过渡政府未能保护其基督教少数派。
"这个由重新命名的基地组织和ISIS特工组成的非法政权在遏制激进伊斯兰教在叙利亚根除基督教的运动方面几乎没有做任何事情，"他说。 国王称大马士革的玛尔埃利亚斯教堂被炸死 25 Christians, "一个鲜明的例子"是"政府不作为或共谋导致的持续迫害"。
"全世界的天主教社区必须倡导叙利亚日益减少的基督徒人口，这现在是战前规模的一小部分，并敦促国际社会拒绝这个圣战分子领导的政府的合法性，并要求对宗教少数群体提供强有力的保护，"金说。