Syria Latakia Violence
Guest: Fadel Abdul Ghany
TS: After days of bloodshed, Syria’s new government is declaring victory over loyalists of ousted former president Bashar al-Assad. The epicentre of the fighting has been the coastal region of Latakia. It’s home to much of Syria’s Alawite minority community, and the ancestral homeland of the country’s former dictator. It’s the worst outbreak of violence Syria has seen since al-Assad’s ouster in December. And the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting that over 1,100 people have been killed in the clashes, including more than 800 civilians. Fadel Abdul Ghany is the executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights. We reached him in Doha, Qatar.
NK: Fadel, we’re hearing from Syria’s the Defence Ministry that the operation is complete, that the region is in, in the ministry’s word is, quote, secure. From what you’re hearing from your contacts on the ground there in Syria. Is that an accurate assessment?
FADEL ABDUL GHANY: I think it’s an accurate one. It still needs the further justification in order to know up to which level they reach to. But I think now what I’m hearing that, that the people that they are reengaging their life. The main road being, being opened, and they control the vast majority of the area. Still, some Assad remnants in the mountain, but maybe in the higher level of the mountain. There is no further attacks we are recording from Assad remnants against civilians took place today.
NK: So, things are calmer today. Slowly getting back to normal, though we have been reading in the, in the wire service reports about people, you know, lining up for bread and things like that. So, that will, that will take some time to normalize further. I wonder what, what stories you were hearing at the height of this, the most heated battles in recent days? What were you hearing at that point?
FAG: Actually, the core of the problem is that Assad reminents attacks the security forces, branches, location, barriers at the same time, and that’s happened in multiple areas. Those attack was organized. So yesterday, there was hundreds of funerals taking place in all around Syria. And there was a, a mourning in between the families. My team spoke with tens of, of families and we spoke with security forces, so, so they told us about all the attacks happened to them, not of, of killing and injured. And on the other hand, also some unaffiliated, also they committed crimes and violations against Alawite and against civilians. So, those also told us horrific stories, families being being killed, slaughtered, and displaced. And we hear the stories about looting as well. So, both sides committed heinous
violations.
NK: From what you’ve seen and heard at this point, Fadel, are you concerned that, that it was members of the Alawite minority who were being targeted here?
FAG: No, I don’t have any concern because past three months, there wasn’t any attacks against minority. On the contrary, they feel relief, and there was no revenge. And I was surprised. At the early days, I expected a lot of attacks to, to take place against Alawite, which would dissent, and that mean the new government prevent that to happen. But now, after the attacks happened on the security forces, branches, and locations, and barriers, I think they, they was unable to control the anger and rage. So, but now, they are in control again. The vast majority of Alawites against those Assad remnant forces, for sure. We are pretty sure about, about that as well. So, I don’t think Alawites want Assad to be back or to rule by one of them. No, those are Assad remnants. They, they feel that they lost the the authority. They lost their benefits.
NK: I was going to ask you if this kind of violence that we saw recently was something that surprised you or you expected it? You’re saying that, that, at this stage, you’re not surprised?
FAG: It was expected. Yeah, well, only three months after more than 50 years from bullying of Alawite and committed heinous crimes against all the Syrian population. So I, like, expected that there will be a revenge or reaction. I expected that. And now, even those attacks, they are not centralized. So, there is no order from the government, the president, the Interior Ministry to kill Alawite. We discover that the vast majorities of the violation, of the violations against Alawites committed by all the group who recently joined the general security, and those were in, in the north. Those, they committed the vast majority of the crimes. So, not the majority of the crime they didn’t committed by the, you know, the security, security forces, maybe 10 per cent, or less than 10 per cent.
NK: You weren’t surprised by, by this violence, these clashes at this stage. Are you expecting more?
FAG: No, I didn’t expect more. I think if the state, which is, I saw they took a lot of steps in the right direction. So today, the statement from the president that to, to, when he spoke to Reuters that we will hold accountable even the closest to, to us. That was a great message, actually. If it’s being implemented on the ground, but on the speech, that was a great messages sending to this. And that’s the, the state, how the state act. State doesn’t act as a group. So, the mentality of the state, it should be different. It tooks the same state from all of the citizens, regardless of their religion, or ethnicity, or whatever. So now Syria, after we don’t have a state before. We have a regime who sees the state, and use it as a farm for his family. Now, we need to think as a state, state acknowledge, state, apology, state took steps, state held accountable. That helps the state behave. And the government, the new government, should do and act based on that. If they do that, I’m not afraid. If they don’t, I have afraid.
FAG: Thanks.
TS: Fadel Abdul Ghany is the executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights. We reached him in Doha, Qatar.
