A hip bone in a blown-up building, a piece of a spine among the rubble, foot bones in a worn sock… Damascus’ Tadamon district is littered with bones after what residents and human rights groups describe as years of killings under Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
FIRST THE GUNSOUND, THEN THE SMELL OF BURNING MEAT
In a video spread on social media in 2022, a person in military uniform; He would take unarmed, blindfolded people towards a large ditch, tell them to run, and shoot them from close range when they approached the edge of the ditch or fell into it.
Speaking to Reuters, residents of the neighborhood stated that the incident occurred in 2013, but the killings continued until recently, and that they saw Syrian security forces regularly bringing men to the area, heard gunshots and then smelled burning meat.
“THIS WAS THE CEMETERY WHERE ALL THE BODIES WERE FOUND”
Mohammad al-Darra, from Tadamon, said he stayed in the neighborhood after the civil war began in 2011 because he feared his family’s homes would be looted. Al-Darra said that over the years he has seen vehicles used by the Syrian Armed Forces bring “people with tied hands” to a small street parallel to where the Tadamon massacre is thought to have taken place. “You would hear it at night. “Each bullet fired hit a man,” he added. Pointing to the dirt street and the ruined buildings next to it, he added, “This was the cemetery where all the corpses were found.”
Bones, burnt plastic and dirty clothes piled among the garbage were captured on Reuters’ camera. Meanwhile, some children were playing with ribs and femurs.
“EVERYONE COMING TO THIS STREET WAS CONSIDERED LOST”
Halid Houriya, who runs a mechanic shop in the area, said that after returning to the neighborhood in 2019, he often heard gunshots and smelled burning meat. Houriya said, “This place was known as execution street. Anyone who came to this street was considered lost. We will not forget these. “Bodies everywhere… It had become a normal thing for people.”
“MASS GRAVE NEEDS TO BE OPENED”
“It is urgent to ensure the security of this area, to exhume the mass grave, and to allow unimpeded access to the relevant international institutions so that they can do this job carefully, prudently and well,” said Hiba Zayadin, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. Zayadin said there was a risk that the mass grave had already been emptied by Assad government forces.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SYRIANS WERE KILLED
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed since 2011, when Assad’s suppression of protests against him turned into a large-scale war involving regional forces.
In 2023, the US State Department imposed a travel ban on a Syrian security official and his immediate family for allegedly killing at least 41 civilians in Tadamon in 2013, describing it as a “massacre”.
The location of the suspicious grave was determined by Human Rights Watch researchers by matching satellite images with the scene in the video.
Although a full investigation has not been carried out in the region yet, many traces of murder have already been found.
“HUMAN PARTS ARE SPREAD EVERYWHERE”
“We found human remains, bones, part of the skull, fingers, ribs, scattered around the entire area surrounding the mass grave, which shows that much more happened here than we know,” Zayadin said.
THERE ARE CONCERNS THAT THE EVIDENCE HAS BEEN DESTROYED
Residents of Tadamon told Reuters that the street had been blocked by metal barricades during years of fierce fighting between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces, including the National Defense Forces, a pro-Assad paramilitary force incorporated into the army in 2012.
Some said they saw Syria’s then-government forces removing some bones from the site earlier this year and feared the grave—and key evidence—had been dug up.
The opening of Syrian prisons after the overthrow of Assad on Sunday caused similar fears, and activists and families searching for their detained relatives said they feared that the escaped soldiers had destroyed evidence about their fate.
MASS GRAVEY AREA FOR 75 THOUSAND PEOPLE
150 mass graves were found in the Husayniye region near Damascus. According to TRT Haber, each pit dug in the area determined to have a capacity of 75 thousand people is 20 meters deep. It is stated that the graves are located behind the Conference Palace. It is claimed that the bodies were brought in refrigerated vehicles and buried on top of each other.
