Mass graves of those killed by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Photo: Hussein Malla / AP
International investigators, human rights activists and prosecutors continue to find evidence of massive crimes committed by the Bashar al-Assad regime in violation of international law. Former US Ambassador for War Crimes Steven Rapp said that the Assad regime has built a “killing machine” that has killed more than 100,000 people since 2013, Reuters reports.
Mass graves and the scale of crimes
During his visits to mass graves in the cities of Qutaifa and Naiha, near Damascus, Rapp noted:
“We really haven’t seen anything like this since the Nazis.”
At least 100,000 bodies are estimated to have been buried in Qutaifa. Testimonies from local residents confirm a systematic approach to mass graves. Refrigerated trucks brought in bodies, which were dumped into pre-prepared ditches under the supervision of security forces.
The International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague reports 66 possible mass graves in Syria. In total, more than 157,000 people are still missing.
“The system of state terror”
According to Rapp, the system involved the cooperation of many government agencies:
- The secret police abducted people from their homes.
- Prisoners and investigators tortured and starved the detainees.
- The drivers and operators of the equipment buried the bodies in mass graves.
“We are talking about a system of state terror that has become a killing machine,” Rapp said.
Crimes against humanity
The Assad regime has long been accused of mass murder, the use of chemical weapons, torture and extrajudicial executions. Human rights organisations have compared the scale of these crimes to the largest humanitarian disasters of the 20th century.
Despite all the efforts of human rights activists, the path to justice for Syrian victims remains difficult. To identify the remains, it is necessary to match the DNA of relatives with samples from the graves found, which is a lengthy and expensive process.
The United States and the international community are working to document these crimes so that those responsible can be brought to justice.
Eyewitness testimonies
Residents of the areas near the graves confirm the evidence of systematic crimes. However, many are still afraid to speak out, fearing reprisals even after a possible regime change.
“It’s a place of horrors,” said one local resident about the cemetery in Naiha.
The international community is calling for independent investigations and the prosecution of all those involved in these crimes against humanity.
