Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) September 2025 report, “Are You Alawi? Identity-Based Killings During Syria’s Transition,” documents a wave of atrocities committed by Syrian government forces and allied armed groups in early March 2025, targeting Alawi-majority communities across Tartous, Latakia, and Hama governorates. The report, produced in collaboration with Syrians for Truth and Justice and Syrian Archive, draws on over 100 interviews, hundreds of verified videos and photographs, and satellite imagery to expose systematic abuses carried out under the guise of security operations.
The report comes as interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends the United Nations. Current and former US officials, including David Petraeus, who led US forces during Washington’s invasion of Iraq and arrested al-Sharaa, have warmly greeted the new Syrian leader.
The violence erupted following coordinated insurgent attacks on March 6, which killed at least 200 government personnel. In response, Defense and Interior Ministry units, along with armed volunteers and government-aligned militias, launched what they called “combing” operations to root out regime loyalists and confiscate weapons. However, these operations quickly devolved into identity-based massacres. The question “Are you Alawi?” became a deadly litmus test during house-to-house raids, with the answer often determining whether a person lived or died.
Between March 7 and March 10, government forces swept through more than 30 Alawi-majority towns and villages. The report included estimates that at least 1,400 civilians were killed. Survivors described masked men in military fatigues or civilian clothes storming homes, demanding sectarian identification, looting valuables, and executing residents — including children and the elderly — often while using anti-Alawi slurs. In some cases, entire families were wiped out.
One survivor recounted that forces came to their home and asked her husband if he was Alawi. “They didn’t ask about his work or anything, they just shot him,” she recalled.
Another described detainees being forced to crawl and bark like a dog before being executed. Videos verified by researchers showed older detainees being beaten on camera and homes set ablaze after looting.
The report emphasized that these atrocities were not isolated incidents. “Participation in the abuses by individuals who were not part of the security forces, officially portrayed as spontaneous and voluntary, further undermines the authorities’ narrative.”
“They didn’t ask about his work or anything, they just shot him.”
HRW said that interviews “with fighters and volunteers reveal that men unaffiliated with the security forces were actively recruited, armed, organized, and deployed alongside formal units by Defense Ministry representatives.”
These volunteers “were embedded in official operations and, in some cases, directed by Ministry of Defense officials,” according to the report.
The report accused the transitional government of failing to investigate or hold senior officials accountable, despite public promises of justice. The Syrian transitional government acknowledged the violence but framed it as a necessary response to insurgent threats. However, the report challenges this narrative, arguing that the operations were disproportionate and deliberately targeted civilians based on their sectarian identity.
HRW also documented the destruction of property, including homes, schools, and religious sites. Satellite imagery confirmed widespread burning and looting of Alawi neighborhoods. Detainees were subjected to torture and degrading treatment, with some held in makeshift detention centers without legal oversight.
HRW called for international accountability mechanisms to be activated, including referrals to the International Criminal Court and independent investigations into command responsibility. The report urges the transitional government to allow access to international monitors and to reform its security apparatus to prevent further abuses.
“The government’s acknowledgment of atrocities is a step forward,” Hiba Zayadin, senior Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch noted in a press release, “but it falls short of ensuring justice for higher-level officials who enabled or failed to stop them.” Without accountability, the report warns, Syria risks further cycles of sectarian violence and impunity.
The report presented a harrowing account of identity-based killings during Syria’s fragile transition. It underscores the urgent need for justice, transparency, and institutional reform. The report stands as both a record of suffering and a call to action for domestic and international actors to confront the legacy of sectarian violence and prevent its recurrence.
