Civilian Massacres Follow Syrian Leaders’ Promises of Peace

When rebels deposed the dictator Bashar al-Assad last year, many Syrians greeted their new rulers with a mix of worry and cautious optimism.

The new government, led by a former jihadist fighter named Ahmed al-Shara, made sweeping promises to protect Syria’s many religious minorities and finally bring peace after more than a decade of civil war.

Mr. al-Shara distanced himself from his jihadist roots, including his past ties to Al Qaeda, and pledged to rein in the extremist fighters in his coalition who consider Syria’s religious minorities — Christians, Druse, Alawites and others — to be heretics.

His assurances helped him win over the United States, Europe and the Gulf nations, which backed his government with sanctions relief and financial support. Even when his forces and armed supporters of his government killed hundreds of civilians from the Assad family’s sect in March, many Syrians considered it a one-off, a brutal but expected outburst of revenge against people seen as close to the former dictatorship.

Then came the killing spree in a province called Sweida.

The bloodshed began over the summer with a feud between warring militias. But as thousands of government troops flooded into the area, ostensibly to quell the fighting, the opposite took place: a bloody rampage against civilians.

About 2,000 combatants and civilians — the vast majority from the Druse religious minority — were killed, an independent war monitor said. It was one of the deadliest outbursts of sectarian violence since Syria’s new authorities took power.

It was also a turning point for the country. To many Syrians, the massacre in Sweida made clear a pattern of government and pro-government forces targeting and killing Syrian minorities, with few repercussions.

Now, the fury over the mass killings is threatening Mr. al-Shara’s control over parts of the country.

The top Druse spiritual leader is calling for Sweida to secede from Syria altogether. Since the massacre, Druse militias have effectively barred government officials and the military from entering much of the province.

The consequences have spilled into other parts of the country, too. After the mass killings in Sweida, Kurdish minority forces in the northeast slowed their negotiations over integrating into the new government. Both regions did not take part in the parliamentary elections that began this month.

To understand what unfolded in Sweida, The New York Times interviewed dozens of witnesses and analyzed hundreds of videos of the mayhem, uncovering execution-style atrocities against civilians carried out by government forces and pro-government fighters.

The Times documented at least five separate episodes of men in military fatigues summarily executing Druse civilians, including groups of unarmed men being marched down the street to their deaths by impromptu firing squads.

Government forces wore a range of uniforms and gunmen in plainclothes sometimes fought by their side, sometimes making it difficult to pin down whether the fighters who committed the atrocities in each case were government security forces or other armed fighters who support Syria’s new leaders.

But The Times verified that government security forces carried out at least one of the executions we documented. In two other executions, witnesses recounted that at least some of the fighters identified themselves as members of government security forces. Beyond that, government soldiers and their armed supporters often operated in tandem, and the evidence showed them committing a range of abuses against Druse civilians.

Many of the fighters filmed themselves as they carried out atrocities, posting an array of trophy videos that spread across social media and struck fear in minorities across Syria.

One of the videos verified by The Times shows fighters in military fatigues ordering three members of a Druse family onto the balcony of an apartment building and forcing them to jump to their deaths.

One of the gunmen then peers over the balcony edge, raises his arm in the air and yells, “God is great!”

In another video verified by The Times, men in fatigues point their rifles at an unarmed 60 year-old Druse man, Munir al-Rajma, as he sits on the steps of a school, demanding to know if he is Druse. Mr. al-Rajma replies that he is Syrian.

“What do you mean by Syrian? Are you Muslim or Druse?” one of the fighters yells.

“Yes, brother, I am Druse,” he responds.

The men in fatigues then open fire, killing him. “This is the fate of every dog like you, you pigs,” one of them is heard saying.

(The videos are disturbing, so the excerpts in this article have been shortened to reduce graphic material.)

Nearly all of the civilians killed in the violence were Druse, independent monitors have concluded. But Druse men also took up arms, carrying out killings and committing some atrocities as well.

Druse fighters killed at least three civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group. In one case, they paraded what they described as the bodies of government soldiers through the streets.

Of the roughly 2,000 people killed in all, nearly 1,000 were Druse civilians and at least five were Bedouin civilians, according to the Observatory.

The Syrian government has condemned the violence and pledged to investigate reports of “shocking and serious violations committed by an unknown group wearing military uniforms in Sweida.”

Mr. al-Shara also vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable, pledging to “bring every hand stained with the blood of innocents to justice,” he told the United Nations General Assembly in September. Government officials formed a fact-finding committee in July to investigate the atrocities, and they have offered their support to U.N. investigators carrying out their own inquiry. The Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment on the findings of The Times’s investigation.

The government’s assurances have not tempered fears among the Druse, or their calls for secession.

“The right to self-determination is a sacred right,” the spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, announced last month. “We will not retreat from it — no matter the sacrifices.”

The Tension

For decades, sectarian tension has simmered — and erupted — with disastrous consequences for Syria.

The country is a patchwork of ethnicities and religions, with a majority Sunni Muslim population living among Shiite Muslims, Christians, Druse and the Assad family’s sect, Alawites, which held enormous sway under dictatorial rule.

During the Assads’ more than 50-year reign, their government fanned sectarian fears to retain power, claiming that the Sunni majority reviled all Syrian minorities. The government, with many Alawites dominating its upper echelons, portrayed itself as the sole protector of Syria’s minorities.

The civil war hardened those divides, with some of the largely Sunni Muslim rebels embracing a jihadist line. Then, when Mr. al-Shara deposed the Assad regime late last year, a Sunni-led government was in power for the first time in decades — and many Syrian minorities felt extremely vulnerable.

Mr. al-Shara tried to ease their concerns, proclaiming a new Syria, safe for everyone. Yet his government struggled to merge his disparate assortment of rebels into a disciplined national army. A new Sunni Muslim nationalism began to emerge, emboldening Sunni extremists across the country.

In a few short months, the dam burst.

Government forces took part in a rampage on the Syrian coast in March that left at least 1,400 dead, most of them from the Assad family’s sect, the Alawites. It was the type of revenge-infused violence that many Syrians feared when the dictatorship fell, and it fueled worries that the new government wouldn’t be able — or willing — to protect Syria’s minorities.

It did not end there.

Two months later, another outbreak of sectarian violence, just outside Damascus, killed more than 100 people. Most of the dead were Druse, who practice an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Then in mid-July, Sweida exploded.

The conflict began as skirmishes between armed Bedouins, a largely Sunni Muslim group in Sweida, and Druse militias that have effectively controlled Sweida for years. The two groups have long fought over issues like grazing, land and water rights, tensions infused with sectarianism that have occasionally flared into violence.

This time, the clashes began when armed Bedouins attacked and robbed a Druse man along Sweida’s main highway. An exchange of attacks and kidnappings between Bedouin and Druse groups followed.

Soon, the Syrian government deployed its security forces to Sweida — and the bloodshed intensified.

Some Druse fighters attacked government troops, accusing them of siding with the Bedouins. Israel also intervened, launching airstrikes on Syrian government forces to protect the Druse. The Israeli attacks appeared to be part of Israel’s efforts to cultivate allies among the Druse and to prevent Islamists from entrenching themselves in southern Syria.

Sunni fighters from eastern Syria also flocked to Sweida, where they and Bedouin gunmen intermingled with government forces, operating in tandem at times, according to videos verified by The Times.

As the gunfire drew close, Hazza al-Shatter, a 74 year-old Druse man, fled his home in rural Sweida and went to his daughter’s apartment in the city, hoping it would be safer there, three relatives said.

But the next morning, gunmen entered the apartment and forced Mr. al-Shatter, his two sons and his son-in-law onto the street, according to a video verified by The Times.

The fighters can be seen marching the unarmed men in a single file line while gunfire rings out nearby. Mr. al-Shatter’s son-in-law is first, then his two sons, 28 and 43, both teachers in local schools. Mr. al-Shatter follows behind them.

One of the gunmen kicks Mr. al-Shatter in the chest, knocking him against a wall, and slaps his face.

“Mustache, let me see your mustache,” another fighter yells at him, referring to his traditional Druse facial hair. Mr. al-Shatter stumbles forward.

The men are forced to walk until they encounter what appears to be a group of fighters in a mix of tan uniforms, traditional attire and darker clothing. The fighters ready their weapons — and fire on the Druse men. Another video verified by The Times shows their bodies sprawled across the pavement.

One of the fighters in the video is seen in yet another video in Sweida, The Times found. That footage shows him cutting off the head of a different man who lies dead in the street.

The Hospital

Chaos soon consumed the city.

At Sweida National Hospital, the bodies of civilians, fighters and government forces filled the morgue and spilled out into the courtyard, according to three medical workers there and videos verified by The Times.

By the second day of clashes, the hospital was struck by gunfire and shelling. Many of the medical workers, including volunteers who had come to help the wounded, moved from the emergency room to a CT scan room farther from windows and doors.

During a lull in the fighting, Muhammad Bahsas, a 22-year-old engineering student volunteering at the hospital, left the room to see what was happening outside, according to three of his colleagues.

He walked to an entrance and saw government soldiers asking for his help with their injuries, his colleagues said. With gunfire echoing nearby, Mr. Bahsas told them he was afraid to cross the road to help them and went back inside.

It was a fatal decision.

Soon, a group of government soldiers entered the hospital, the building’s security camera footage shows. The soldiers ordered the medical workers sheltering in the CT room to move to an entryway, according to the footage and five medical workers and volunteers present at the time.

“They started to say: ‘Come out, you pigs. Go on your knees. You Druse are pigs,’” said Tariq Surayidinn, a nurse who was there.

One of the soldiers, with “Internal Security Forces” written on the back of his uniform, then singled out Mr. Bahsas, according to the video and witnesses. The soldier shouted that this was the man who refused to treat him earlier, the witnesses said.

A soldier hit Mr. Bahsas on the head. Two others pulled him forward. Mr. Bahsas grabbed one of the soldiers by the neck, but was kicked to the ground. As the soldiers backed away from him, Mr. Bahsas tried to sit up and put his hands in the air.

One of the soldiers raises his rifle and shoots him, the video shows. A few seconds later, another shoots him with a handgun. The Times tracked down and interviewed one of the soldiers at the hospital when the killings took place, and he confirmed that the fighters in the video were government forces.

The rest of the medical workers recalled looking on in horror as a soldier dragged Mr. Bahsas’ body across the room, leaving a streak of blood on the floor. Another soldier pulled out his phone and started filming the group of medical workers, their hands in the air, the video shows.

Witnesses who spoke to The Times said that as he filmed, one soldier began asking them if they needed anything and if they had been treated well — presumably in an attempt to cover their tracks and extract statements that the security forces had not mistreated anyone.

“They were asking that, and Muhammad’s body was right there in front of us,” one volunteer, Yazan Abu Hadir, said.

The Executions

Hordes of government and allied fighters roamed the streets of Sweida city, looking for Druse men, armed or not.

Moaz Arnous, a 23-year-old dental student, and his brother Bara, a 20-year-old studying electrical engineering, had been sheltering with their cousin, Ousama Arnous, 26, in his apartment. But by their second night there, the fighting had reached the street outside and Ousama was not sure if they would survive, his relatives said.

“He called and said, ‘Maybe they will kill us; please take care of my mom,” his brother-in-law, Hadi Neman, said.

The next morning, armed men in military fatigues entered the apartment building, identified themselves as government forces and began ransacking it, according to a neighbor. In a video verified by The Times, they can be seen forcing the three Arnous men into a different unit in the building that, unlike the Arnous’ apartment, did not have tall iron bars on the balcony.

The fighters then order the young men onto the balcony, and tell them to jump off.

Moaz steps onto it first and begins to put his leg over the metal railing. But then one of the gunmen yells at him to wait, the video shows.

“Are you guys filming?” the gunman asks one of his fellow fighters. “Are you filming?”

When his comrade confirms that he is filming with his phone, the orders resume.

“Jump off,” the gunman yells. “Come on, jump off!”

Moaz climbs over the railing first and lets go. Osama is next, knocking down a potted plant as he falls. Then Bara tumbles over the edge, amid a barrage of gunfire.

The fall and gunfire killed all three of them, according to a relative, a neighbor and a doctor at the hospital who examined their bodies.

Deadly home invasions took place elsewhere in Sweida city, too.

Members of the Saraya family were in their apartment building when armed men barged in and demanded to know how many men were inside, according to Dima and Majda Saraya, the wives of two of the men.

“They went up the stairs shouting, ‘Surrender yourselves!’” Dima Saraya recalled. Her uncle told the fighters that they did not have weapons and asked them to guarantee their safety if they surrendered.

After one of the fighters assured them they would be safe, eight men in the apartment — seven in the Saraya family and a neighbor — emerged. The fighters then force the men out of the building, a video verified by The Times shows.

One of the fighters returned to the apartment, identified himself as a member of the government’s security forces, and promised Dima and Majda that their relatives would be back soon, the two women said.

Videos verified by The Times show that was a hollow promise.

In one, the gunmen march the women’s loved ones down a sidewalk in a single-file line.

“Do you want us to guarantee your safety?” one of the fighters says, appearing to mock their earlier request.

The eight men are led to a roundabout in the city, Tishreen Square, and forced to kneel in the dirt, according to another video verified by The Times.

Fighters then open fire on them, the men’s bodies crumpling over as plumes of dust rise in the air.

Yet another video verified by The Times shows two of the gunmen at the square speaking into the camera of a phone.

“There are no men left,” one fighter says.

“Even if there are men, there are no real men left,” he adds.

Then, in English, he says: “Bye-bye.”

The Humiliation

Much of the violence was captured in videos filmed by the fighters themselves as they hunted down unarmed Druse civilians to kill or assault them.

Some filmed themselves with scissors, threatening to go to Sweida to cut off the mustaches of Druse men, according to videos verified by The Times.

One man — who was among the rebels as they made their lightning advance against the Assad government, according to social media posts — can be seen holding a pair of scissors with red handles in the air as he drives down a road.

“Where to?” his friend asks while filming him.

“A barbershop in Al Sweida,” the fighter replies, sarcastically. “Trying to earn some money this morning.”

In multiple cases, fighters are seen holding down unarmed Druse men as they cut off their mustaches.

One video verified by The Times shows a group of fighters surrounding a Druse man on a motorcycle. One of the fighters, wearing a uniform from the General Security division of the new government’s Ministry of Interior, holds the Druse man still as another takes a scissor to his mustache.

“Calm down, calm down, you pig!” one of the fighters shouts.

“Best mustache cut yet,” another says.

“Cut more, cut more!” a third yells.

Another video shows a Druse sheikh, Mohsen Hunaidi, lying in his bed at home in Al Majdal village in Sweida. Ninety-three years old and bedridden after a serious fall months earlier, Mr. Hunaidi was unable to flee the village when fighting first broke out, according to his daughter, Samar Hunaidi, 47, and another relative.

Ms. Hunaidi fled as the violence gripped Sweida, she said, but her brother, Adnan Hunaidi, stayed behind to take care of their father. Then, after fighters reached the village, Adnan made the agonizing choice to flee as well and leave their father behind, locking the door to their house in the hopes that the fighters would not get in, Ms. Hunaidi said.

She checked her phone constantly for updates from her brother. Then she received a message from his WhatsApp number, she said: It was a photo of Adnan lying on the ground, his knee bent and hands near his face. The fighters appeared to have killed Adnan, taken his phone and sent her the photo. Adnan’s son received a similar message with the phrase: “He’s a carcass.”

Soon after receiving the message, Ms. Hunaidi saw a video on Facebook of her family’s home in al-Majdal. In the video, her father looks up at a man and tries — in vain — to bat away his hand as he takes a scissor to the old sheikh’s mustache.

“Your pigs have lost you!” the fighter shouts.

The fighters cut off his mustache and then leave him.

It was several days before Druse fighters secured the village and brought Mr. Hunaidi to the hospital in Sweida. By then, he was weak and barely able to talk after spending days without food, water or his daily medications, Ms. Hunaidi said. He died within days.

“At first I was thinking: ‘Tell me how to do it, how to trust them,’” Ms. Hunaidi said, referring to Syria’s new government.

“Now, after all of this,” she said, “it’s impossible for me to trust or reconcile with them.”

Jamie Leventhal contributed video editing.