Trials have begun for 14 of several hundred men accused of killings or other wrongdoing during a Syrian state campaign in March to quell opposition among coastal Alawite communities.
Seven men faced three judges in Aleppo, accused of “stirring sectarian strife”, assaulting security forces and theft, state news agency Sana said. Another seven “undisciplined elements” of government forces went on trial later in the day for murder and theft. The two trials were adjourned until next month.
Jumaa Al Anzi, head of a government committee investigating the violence, said the trials “lay the foundations for justice and transparency” and will “deter criminals”. They will also “provide the accused of their rights”, he said.
As part of the push for accountability, Syria is also set to try perpetrators of mass killings and other transgressions carried out during the era of former dictator Bashar Al Assad, who was toppled in a rebel offensive last year. However, a Syrian official told The National that these trials are unrelated to Tuesday's proceedings and will be held under a separate legal framework.
Footage on state television of the trials appeared to show the three judges listening to initial statements by the accused and questioning one about the location of an attack against state security forces.
In early March, Syria's central government launched an offensive in the coastal heartland of Syria's Alawite sect to stop what it described as a nascent insurgency by those loyal to the former regime. Mr Al Assad was an Alawite and the community largely underpinned his government.
At least 1,300 Alawite civilians were killed in the March offensive, while dozens of government troops also perished, mostly in ambushes by remnants of security forces from the old order.
Mohammad Al Zuaiter, an Alawite civil leader who was a political prisoner for a decade under the Assad regime, said that killings and kidnappings by government militias continue in Alawite areas eight months after the offensive, although at much lower rates than during the peak in March.
“The judiciary is the right way to pursue those who committed the violence, but is it really independent?” Mr Zuaiter asked. “Without monitoring mechanisms to guarantee fair trials and the rights of the accused, I am afraid that these could turn out to be show trials.”
A government inquiry found that Syrian military commanders had given orders not to attack civilians in the offensive. However, the committee investigating has compiled a list of 565 men it said were involved in killings and other crimes on both sides.
Syria has been run by senior members of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former Al Qaeda affiliate, since they toppled Mr Al Assad last December. President Ahmad Al Shara, who led HTS as a rebel outfit but officially disbanded all non-state groups in January, sought on a trip to Washington this month to assure US officials that Alawites will be part of Syria's recovery from almost 14 years of civil war.
Mr Al Shara told a group of Syrian expats in the US that the former regime sought to keep coastal Alawite areas dependent on it by encouraging them to join state security forces and not pursue any other avenues to make a living.
He singled out the port cities of Latakia and Tartous as “one of the most qualified areas in Syria” to become a modern economy, pointing out the potential for tourism, agriculture, industry and transit activities.
“A large number of people during the past era did not benefit from their location,” added Mr Al Shara, saying there was a need for a “cultural” shift away from state-provided jobs as well as investment.
During his trip to Washington, Mr Al Shara met US President Donald Trump and Brian Mast, a congressional leader who is a crucial figure in efforts to lift a US law imposed in 2019 that placed sanctions on Syria. Some American lawmakers are hesitant to remove the sanctions due to concerns over protections for minorities.
