Syrian Coastal Committee… weak, justifying report that conceals atrocities ;sparks outrage

The National Committee for Investigation and Fact-Finding announced on Tuesday the results of its investigation into the Syrian coastal massacres that occurred last March, resulting in the deaths of no fewer than 1,426 people, including 90 women. Despite the severity of the incidents, the report lacked a clear identification of the parties responsible for the crimes, merely referring to “remnants linked to the previous regime,” “undisciplined volunteer elements,” and “rogue gangs.”

The committee admitted during its press conference that its conclusions were based on “suspicion rather than conclusive evidence,” prompting Zaid Al-Azam, a member of the French Renaissance Party, to say, “This alone is enough to render the report legally questionable.” He added, “It is simply a politicized report bearing the stamp and signature of the authorities.”

Syrian artist Yara Sabri mournfully commented on the report’s content, saying, “The committee’s findings, as I understood them, amount to recording individual violations by undisciplined elements and some skirmishes… and talk of gangs, with vague promises of accountability later after the enactment of laws for a legislative council that has yet to be formed.” She added, “I will not betray anyone, but Syrian blood shed by Syrians is forbidden… until the Day of Judgment.”

Meanwhile, Syrian writer Diaa Iskandar launched a scathing attack on the committee, considering “what was issued is not an investigation but a whitewashing of the killers’ record.” He wrote, “What kind of investigation stammers at the word ‘massacre’ and replaces it with cold expressions? This linguistic collusion is not a slip but a deliberate policy to extinguish the spark of popular outrage.” He dismissed the references to an “Alawite state project” as “delirium and nonsense,” calling for accountability for those “who confiscate pain and recycle killers as victims.”

Omar Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, described the committee as “a fact-concealing committee,” considering it “vengeful rather than ideological,” attempting to lower the gravity of the crime and reduce it to individual incidents that do not deserve to be classified as organized massacres.

ANHA