Syrian NGOs for human rights are demanding an international investigation into July violence in Soueida, after the broadcast this Sunday, August 10, of images that seek to show the execution of a voluntary rescuer in the city’s main hospital by members of government forces.
What to remember
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Syrian activists are asking for an international investigation into July violence in Soueida, after the dissemination of images showing pro-government forces shooting a rescuer in the main hospital.
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The clashes, launched on July 13 between Druzes and Bedouin tribes, left around 1,400 dead, mainly Druzes, despite the sending of troops by Damascus supposed to “restore order”.
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Witnesses and NGOs accuse the Syrian army of supporting the Bedouins and of committing summary executions; The UN is called upon to investigate, the commission set up by Damascus being deemed not credible.
Syrian human rights activists have reiterated their calls for an independent investigation into the violence that occurred in July in the province of Soueida, mainly Druze, after the broadcasting on Sunday of images show seeing government forces slaughtering a voluntary rescuer in a hospital.
The violence began on July 13 between druze and Bedouin tribes and they intensified the following days with the intervention of external forces – including soldiers sent by Damascus -, finally killing some 1,400 people, including many Druzes civilians.
Syrian authorities explained that they had sent troops to restore order but witnesses, Druzes factions and the Syrian Human Rights Observatory (OSDH) accused them of supporting the Bedouins and having committed abuses against the Druzes, including summary executions.
Men dressed in medical outfit
Videos circulating on social networks seem to show civilians killed by armed men in uniform of military or internal security forces. The local media Suwayda 24 in particular broadcast on Sunday what he described as surveillance images taken at the main hospital in the city of Soueida on July 16.
We see a group of people, apparently staff members, crouching on the floor in a corridor. Several armed men are standing in front of them, most of them in military uniform and one of them in uniform from the Ministry of the Interior. A brief altercation breaks out with a man whom Suwayda 24 has identified as being “One of the medical team volunteers”.
The forces then shoot this man, whose body is then dragged, leaving a trace of blood. Syrian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
“Shocking summary execution”
A 30 -year -old man who appears in the video explained on the phone at theAFP that he had answered the call of the hospital which was looking for volunteers and confirmed that “l’incident” was “Produced on July 16”. A doctor from this establishment, speaking under the cover of anonymity, confirmed to theAFP that the video had been taken inside the hospital.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights also disseminated these images, the qualifiers of“Shocking summary execution” perpetrated by “members of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior”. He asked for accounts and “An international independent and impartial commission” on violence in Soueïda.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, the head of the Syrian network for human rights, urged the authorities to act immediately and called on the International and Independent Inquiry of the UN to come “Investigate the violations committed by all the parties involved in Soueida”.
In declarations on X, he considers that the commission appointed by the authorities of Damascus last month to investigate violence in Soueida “Lack of credibility”.
