Every year, Syrians and human rights activists commemorate the anniversary of the “Tadamon massacre,” which occurred on April 16, 2013. During this event, elements of the Syrian regime executed a group of civilians by throwing them into a pit and then shooting them.
On April 27, 2022, The Guardian newspaper published an investigation revealing that three members of the Syrian regime forces from Branch 227 (the area branch) of the military intelligence executed 41 civilians, including women and children, in the Tadamon neighborhood south of the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The investigative work was conducted by Syrian activist Ansar Shihoud and Professor Umit Uygur from the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands over a period of three years. This investigation followed the leakage of a series of videos found on a computer belonging to one of the regime’s elements.
The videos show dozens of blindfolded and handcuffed civilians fleeing from a (nonexistent) sniper only to fall into a deep pit where they were shot, and their bodies were later burned.
The investigation details the search for the individual, Amjad Yousef, who appeared in the video executing civilians. It was later revealed that he was responsible for the Tadamon neighborhood and committed many violations during the year 2013.
The Tadamon neighborhood, along with several other neighborhoods south of Damascus, was under siege by Syrian regime checkpoints in 2013.
On the anniversary of the ” Tadamon massacre,” it’s important to remember that what happened constitutes a “war crime,” which means a serious violation of international humanitarian law, subjecting individuals to criminal responsibility.
Some of the war crimes outlined in the basic statute of the International Criminal Court since the adoption of the First Additional Protocol in 1977 include:
– Making civilian objects that are not military objectives the subject of attacks.
– Using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.
– Using prohibited weapons.
You can find more information about war crimes here:
