Paris, July 24, 2024 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has excluded Omar al-Aroub, the head of the Syrian regime’s Paralympic Committee, from participating in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games due to accusations of war crimes. The decision comes amid mounting pressure from Syrian opposition groups.
According to Liberation, a leading French newspaper, al-Aroub was excluded from the Games following an international campaign led by Syrian activists. However, the rest of Syria’s 20-member Olympic delegation will still take part in the Paris Games.
While the IOC emphasized that the Syrian delegation’s participation is not a recognition of the Syrian regime, the French newspaper noted that the delegation’s arrival in Paris is far from insignificant. Additionally, according to Liberation Newspaper, the regime views its presence at the Games as an opportunity to bolster its image through “soft power” to re-establish itself on the global stage.
The Syrian delegation consists of six athletes, including Amr Hamsho, the son of prominent businessman and former member of Syria’s People’s Assembly, Muhammad Hamsho. The rest of the delegation includes administrative, technical, and medical staff, and is headed by Alaa Khoji, with Omar Ashour serving as his assistant. The delegation also includes Marwan Dowaier, a member of the Executive Office of the General Sports Federation, and Atef Al-Zeibaq, the Vice President of the Syrian Olympic Committee and the delegation’s Olympic attaché.
Notably, Amr Hamsho is closely linked to Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and was named in the U.S. sanctions list under the Caesar Act in 2020, which targets individuals and entities associated with the Syrian regime.
Syrian human rights and media activists have launched a petition addressed to the Olympic Committee to prevent Omar al-Aroub from participating in the Paris Olympics, as he is a “war criminal.”
In August 2023, the Olympic Committee said it knew nothing about al-Aroub’s past, coinciding with his attendance at a meeting in France, while Syrian activists have been collecting evidence of crimes incriminating al-Aroub ever since.
The exclusion of Omar al-Aroub follows efforts by human rights workers and Syrian media groups, who launched a petition calling for his ban from the Games due to his role in war crimes. Activists have long accused al-Aroub of directly participating in the suppression of protests since 2011.
By the breaking out of Syrian protests against the regime in 2011, al-Aroub was a member of the executive office of the National Union of Syrian Students, an organization with close ties to the regime’s intelligence apparatus. In this capacity, he is alleged to have played a significant role in the brutal crackdown on student protests across Syrian universities.
In 2014, al-Aroub’s profile rose further when he became deputy commander of the Baath Brigades militia, a pro-regime group that was heavily involved in the brutal siege and assault on Aleppo.
Same Justice For Human Rights demands the prosecution of all those responsible for crimes against humanity and the necessity of their trial to achieve justice for the victims and their families. At the same time, it points out that the Syrian regime is attempting, through international sporting activities, to whitewash its image and cover up war crimes, as well as conceal the widespread violations of international law that have occurred and continue to occur systematically in Syria.
