UN commission says Syria must end violence against Alawites and protect places of worship

Syria Commission calls on authorities to enact more protections after suicide bombing attack on church near Damascus

Alawite Syrians, who fled the violence in western Syria, walk in the water of the Nahr El Kabir River, after the reported mass killings of Alawite minority members, in Akkar, Lebanon. Reuters

The head of a UN investigative commission on Friday called commitments made by the new authorities in Syria to protect the rights of minorities “encouraging” but said attacks have continued on members of the Alawite sect in the months since a major outbreak of sectarian violence on Syria’s coast.

Paulo Pinheiro, the head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the current Syrian government – led by Islamist former insurgents who ousted former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad – had given his team “unfettered access” to the coast and to witnesses of the violence and victims’ families.

“Disturbingly, reports continue to circulate of continuing killings and arbitrary arrests of members of the Alawite community, as well as the confiscation of the property of those who fled the March violence,” he said.

Government forces deployed across Syrian town of Sahnaya after deadly sectarian clashes

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Mr Pinheiro's commission also “documented abductions by unknown individuals of at least six Alawite women this spring in several Syrian governorates”, two of whom remain missing, and has received “credible reports of more abductions”, he said.

He also called on authorities to put in place more protections for places of worship after Sunday’s suicide bombing attack on a church outside of Damascus. The attack, which killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens more, was the first of its kind to take place in the Syrian capital in years.

The Syrian government has said that the perpetrators belonged to an ISIS cell and that they thwarted a subsequent attempt to target a Shiite shrine in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb in Damascus.

“Attacks on places of worship are outrageous and unacceptable,” Mr Pinheiro said. “The authorities must ensure the protection of places of worship and threatened communities and ensure that perpetrators and enablers are held accountable.”

The scene after a deadly blast at the Mat Elias church in Damascus. Getty Images

An ambulance outside the church. Getty Images

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest during Sunday Mass, after opening fire on worshippers gathered outside. Getty Images)

It was the first major terrorist attack since the removal of Bashar Al Assad in December. Getty Images

Emergency responders work inside the church. Getty Images

A man injured in the incident. AP

Chaos and panic gripped the area for hours after the attack. AFP

People survey the damage after a deadly blast. Getty Images

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered condolences and expressed 'strong condemnation of these criminal acts'. Getty Images

The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in years and comes as Damascus is trying to win the support of minorities. Getty Images

People and rescuers inspect the damage after the attack. AFP

Syrian civil defence workers remove debris inside the church. AP

It was the first suicide bombing in Syria in years. AFP

At least one suicide bomber opened fire outside the church before detonating an explosive vest inside. AFP

The Ministry of Health has said more than 50 people were wounded in the attack. AFP

People gather near the church after the attack. AFP

People and rescuers inspect the damage at the church. AFP

Syrian security forces stand guard outside the church. State media says the suicide bomber was affiliated with ISIS. AP

There were about 400 people inside the church at the time of the attack. AP

The attack comes as Damascus is trying to win the support of minorities. AP

Mr Al Assad was deposed in a lightning rebel offensive in December, bringing an end to a nearly 14-year civil war.

In March, hundreds of civilians, most of them from the Alawite minority to which Mr Al Assad belongs, were killed in revenge attacks after clashes broke out between pro-Assad armed groups and the new government security forces on the Syrian coast.

Mr Pinheiro said his commission had documented scattered “revenge attacks” that happened before that, including killings in several villages in Hama and Homs provinces in late January in which men who had handed over their weapons under a “settlement” process set up for former soldiers and members of security forces under Assad, believing that they would be granted an amnesty in exchange for disarmament, were then “ill-treated and executed".

He praised the interim government’s formation of a body tasked with investigating the attacks on the coast and said government officials had told his team that “dozens of alleged perpetrators” were arrested.

Mr Pinheiro said the government needs to carry out a “reform and vetting programme” as it integrates a patchwork of former rebel factions into a new army and security services and enact “concrete policies to put an end to Syria’s entrenched cycles of violence and revenge, in a context where heightened tensions and sectarian divisions have been reignited".