Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish militia that defeated ISIS in northeast Syria, 2017 Credit...Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
Genocide Emergency Alert - Syria
By Aiden Carlton, Genocide Watch
Following a surprise offensive in 2024, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), overthrew the tyrannical Ba’athist regime in Damascus led by Bashar al-Assad. HTS had been named a terrorist organization by the US, UK, and UN because HTS’s predecessor organization Jabhat al-Nusra was a member of al-Qaeda and had links to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
HTS has seized control of the new interim Syrian government. HTS’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, promises that Syria will have a stable, inclusive future. But despite its new moderate image, HTS has historically been, and largely remains, a Salafist and sectarian Sunni organization.
Kurds have established an autonomous republic in northeastern Syria called Rojava. It is one of the few places in the Middle East where women have equal rights in governance with men. Kurdish forces are supported by US troops. They were instrumental in defeating ISIS. They hold thousands of ISIS prisoners.
Turkey is at war with the Kurds, accusing them of supporting the formerly separatist and terrorist PKK in Turkey. Oçalan, the Kurdish political and ideological leader, has renounced violence and separatism, but Turkey still holds him in prison. Turkey seeks to control a strip of territory in Syria along the Turkish border.
Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Shara, right, and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, sign a deal in Damascus, Syria, March 10, 2025 .Credit...SANA, via Associated Press
HTS insists on Kurdish forces joining the Syrian Army. HTS has negotiated an agreement with the Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria (AANES) The pact promises that religious and ethnic minorities will be included in drafting a new Syrian constitution.
Despite HTS’ efforts to establish a control over all of Syria and a monopoly on the use of weapons, Assadist militias have attacked HTS forces in the northwestern Alawite provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
In response, HTS forces and allied militias have launched a counter-insurgency in which over 1300 civilians, most of them Alawites, have been killed in just a few days. Some were killed in execution-style massacres. Over 10,000 Alawites have fled into neighboring Lebanon.
HTS leader al-Sharaa insists that those who committed massacres were not operating under orders from Damascus. HTS has created a commission to investigate the killings. However, HTS previously engaged in similar killings of Alawite civilians.
Al-Sharaa and other HTS leaders in public speeches and interviews have used discriminatory threats against religious minorities, especially against Shi'ites and Alawites.
Due to prevalent hate speech, Syria is at Stage 4: Dehumanization. As a one-party state that excludes moderates from Syrian opposition parties, Syria is at Stage 6: Polarization. Revenge massacres of 1300 Alawites indicate Stage 8: Persecution. If Turkey intervenes to crush Kurds in the northeast, Syria is at grave risk of reaching Stage 9: Extermination.
Genocide Watch recommends:
Adoption of a truly federal Syrian constitution, with self-governance for ethnic regions
Demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration of sectarian militias
Investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by the al-Assad regime.
Prosecution and punishment of current armed forces involved in massacres of civilians
Inclusive non-sectarian government as called for in UNSC Res. 2254