Source of Picture: 3omalasyr
Syrians recalled the eleventh anniversary of the Bayda massacre in the countryside of Banias on the Syrian coast west of Syria, committed by the Syrian regime forces, which claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, and called for holding all perpetrators of the crime accountable.
On May 2 and 3, 2013, Syrian regime forces and their allied militias committed what became known as the “Bayda massacre,” which resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, ranging from 300 to 450 according to the United Nations investigation committee, 248 according to Human Rights Watch, and 495 according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights statistics, while survivors insist that the actual numbers were much higher.
According to survivors of the massacre, regime forces employed “brutal” killing methods against civilians (including slaughter and burning) without distinction of sex or age. They also staged bodies and set them on fire, in addition to committing mass executions and burning homes and cars.
At that time, civilians attempted to flee to different neighborhoods and villages in the Tartus Governorate but were unable to do so due to the presence of regime checkpoints.
Ali Kayali, also known as Mera’aj Oran, is responsible for the Bayda massacre, as Syrians recognized him after appearing in a recorded video discussing the “encirclement of Banias,” and he was then called the Butcher of Banias.
Oran has been the leader of the Syrian resistance in the Iskenderun Brigade since 2012, hailing from the Oran Mountains in the Latakia Governorate, western Syria. He was born in the Turkish city of Antakya in 1956.
He has survived several assassination attempts and is on the Turkish justice wanted list, especially after investigations revealed his involvement in the bombing of the city of Reyhanlı in 2013.
The Syrian regime government stated through official television that its armed forces were responding to “rebel ambushes,” and that they only killed “terrorists” while seizing quantities of various weapons.
Human Rights Watch, in a report titled “No One Left,” on September 13, 2013, considered the killings in Bayda as one of the most brutal mass executions in the Syrian conflict.
The US State Department in Syria, in a post on its website, called for holding the regime accountable for the Bayda massacre and all brutal massacres and tactics against civilians, which it continues to commit.
Syrians have circulated videos and images on social media documenting the massacre and calling for holding all perpetrators accountable.
International human rights law unequivocally imposes a ban on summary executions and extrajudicial killings. In situations of armed conflict governed by international humanitarian law, deliberate killing of civilians, wounded individuals, or surrendered or captured soldiers (those incapable of fighting) constitutes a war crime.
The organization “Same Justice” emphasizes that war crimes cannot be subject to statute of limitations, according to Article 1 of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. It calls for holding all those responsible for the Bayda massacre and other crimes committed against the Syrian people during the years of the war accountable, irrespective of the parties involved in the conflict.
