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The Ongoing Consequences of Syria’s Genocide
Written and Researched By: Nandana Jeevan
Published By: Meredith Yuen
Published: 23rd March 2026
How can a nation heal when its wounds run so deep? Amid years of brutal repression, massacres and chemical attacks, Syria’s genocide is a powerful reminder of human cruelty and the urgent need for justice and reconciliation.
The Syrian genocide began in March 2011 as part of the Arab Spring [1], a wave of pro-democracy protests and uprisings across the Arab world against authoritarian rule. Growing discontent with the Ba'athist authoritarian regime led by President Bashar al-Assad culminated in large-scale protests led by the Syrian population in favour of democracy. When these protests were met with lethal force and government forces began targeting civilians, the conflict started to take on a genocidal nature. Accounts of targeted violence and mass killings against specific ethnic groups like the Alawites and Druze emphasize the severe human rights violations that occurred throughout the span of the conflict. Though the Ba'athist regime concluded in late 2024, the conflict is still ongoing with challenges continuing into 2026. Understanding the history behind this conflict is crucial for comprehending the gravity of the genocide and the complexities of its long lasting turmoil.
(The Arab Baath Movement was founded by Michel Aflaq in 1940, NDTV News Desk, 8 Dec 2024)
Ba’athist Syria
The Ba'athist regime in Syria, led by the Ba'ath Party since 1963, endorsed the formation of a single Arab socialist nation (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica & Tikkaen, 2007). The Ba’ath Party was founded in 1947 by Michel Aflaq, whose aim to unite Arab states under a banner of radical nationalism, won over many supporters across the region. In 1953, the Ba’ath Party merged with Akram Harwani’s Arab Socialist Party, to form the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, which quickly became the second-largest party in the Syrian 1954 parliamentary elections. However, internal disagreements within the party led to a split in the movement, forcing Alfaq and his supporters from the Ba’ath party leadership to seek refuge in Iraq (BBC, 2012). By 1963, Hafez al-Assad succeeded in seizing control of the Ba’ath party through a staged military coup, leading to a shift in military dominance. Assad’s rise to power in 1971 was characterized by strategic alliances with the military and political indoctrination, resulting in a highly centralised regime that was integrated with the Assad family’s rule (NDTV, 2024). Following his death in 2000, Hafez al-Assad was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad as the President of Syria. Though he initially appeared as a reformer by promising to modernize the Syrian political landscape, his attempts fell short and the party remained in an increasingly strict authoritarian state. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica & Tikkaen, 2007)
Ba'athist Syria was considered to be one of the strictest police states in the Arab homeland [2], with constricting regulations on independent journalists and civilian participation in protests. This prompted a wave of peaceful protests that were met with violent government-led crackdowns, escalating the situation into a civil war that lasted for roughly 14 years. Eventually, on December 8 2024, the Assad regime collapsed after a ten day offensive led by rebel forces headed by the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) [3] and the Southern Operations Room (SOR) [4]. The SOR succeeded in coordinating an attack on Damascus [5], forcing President Bashar al-Assad to leave Syria, and marking the collapse of the fifty year Assad dynasty (Hamdach, 2025).
(Citizens in Syria take down statues of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus on Monday.Murat Sengul / Anadolu via Getty Images, 2024)
Massacres during the civil war
During President Bashar al-Assad's rule, several peaceful protests erupted, calling for political reform against the authoritarian Ba'athist Party. This was met by a violent crackdown from security forces that led to several massacres spanning from 2011-2024, in which several demonstrators were killed.
In December 2011, the Jabal al-Zawiya massacre took place just 40km south-west of the provincial capital Idlib, taking the lives of over 270 unarmed citizens. It is considered to be one of the deadliest large-scale massacres in response to the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. Over the course of several days, pro-government militias targeted defenceless defectors between the villages of Kunsafra and Kafr Oweid, through the use of armed weapons, military tanks and even bombs (SYRIAWISE Team, 2023). The attacks led to the loss of several innocent lives, with survivor Ahmad Saleh al-Yusuf reporting that those targeted included “old men and teenage boys,” and recalling that he saw “a young shepherd boy of about 13” amongst the victims (BBC, 2012). Fifteen years after the massacre, no one has been held accountable for the unspeakable crime committed against the defenceless citizens of Jabal al-Zawiya (SYRIAWISE Team, 2023).
The 2013 Ghouta chemical attack was one of the most pivotal moments in the Syrian conflict revealing the extreme brutality of the Assad regime. In the morning of the 21st August 2013, the region of Ghouta was struck by several rockets containing the dangerous chemical compound Sarin. An estimate of 3600 individuals were exposed to the hazardous nerve agent, displaying neurotoxic symptoms such as convulsions, foaming at the mouth and an eventual loss of consciousness (Suleiman, 2023). Although reports surrounding a precise death toll vary, an estimate of 281 - 1729 lives were lost as a result of this attack. The United Nations confirmed that the weapons used in the attack are consistent with those “in the arsenal of the Syrian armed forces”. According to weapons specialist Peter Bouckaert, these specific rocket systems “have never been seen in rebel hands”, thereby implicating the Ba’athist regime in the attack (Borger, 2013). The Syrian government has denied all allegations, arguing that the UN report is “one sided”, and claiming all videos published online of the attack are “completely fabricated” (BBC, 2013).
(Smoke rises after what activists said was due to airstrikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Erbeen in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta May 17, 2015. (Reuters: Yaseen Al-Bushy)
March 2025 massacres
In March 2025 (post Ba’athist Syria), a series of brutal revenge massacres targeting the Alawite population unfolded. The Alawite community has historically held an influential position in Syria’s political landscape, with both Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad being members of the Alawite sect themselves. The armed groups, led by government forces and smaller political groups, stormed through “more than 30 Alawi-majority towns”, targeting individuals formerly associated with the government (Human Rights Watch, 2025). An estimate of 1000 - 2000 individuals were killed in this process, regardless of individual guilt or innocence. A government committee tasked with investigating the attacks documented several grave violations, “including murder, premeditated murder, looting, destruction and burning of homes, torture and sectarian insults” (Al Jazeera, 2025). Among this, several women, children and elderly were executed and subject to humiliation at the handsn of multiple armed men. Though many of these massacres were carried under the pretext of an ‘investigation’, the identity-based targeting reveals a hidden intent to collectively punish Alawi communities for years of complicity in the Assad regime, regardless of individual involvement (Human Rights Watch, 2025).
(People lift placards during a rally called for by Syrian activists and civil society representatives "to mourn for the civilian and security personnel casualties", at al-Marjeh square in Damascus on March 9, 2025. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on March 9 amid a growing international backlash following the killing of civilians along the country's coast in the worst violence since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
In early 2026, Syria is navigating a transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The new government has made progress by working to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the national military, to enhance security in conflict affected regions (Security Council Report, 2026). Despite this progression, Syria is still dealing with significant challenges, such as pervasive displacement of individuals, and the risk of extremist groups resurging, which hinders the nation's stability and reconstruction efforts (Nawaz & Molana-Allen, 2025).
Glossary/Notes
Genocide: The intentional killing of a group of people based on their identity.
Authoritarian regime: A government where power is concentrated in one leader or party, restricting freedoms.
Alawites: An ethnoreligious group, who live primarily in Syria and elsewhere in the Levant.
Socialist nature: A belief in collective ownership of resources and production.
Radical nationalism: Extreme loyalty to one’s nation, often at the expense of other groups.
Political indoctrination: Teaching people to accept specific political beliefs without question.
Centralised regime: A government where decision-making is held by a central authority, reducing local control.
Police state: A government that exercises extreme control over civil society, typically through a surveillance-heavy national police force.
Militias: Armed groups of civilians organized for military purposes or defense.
Defectors: People who leave their country or group to join an opposing side.
Nerve agent: Highly toxic chemicals that disrupt nerve function.
Sect: A subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization.
Transitional government: A temporary administration set up to guide a country through political change.
[1]: The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy/anti-government protests that spread across the Arab world in the early 2010s
[2]: The Arab world, formally the Arab homeland, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa.
[3]: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group
[4]: The Southern Operations Room (SOR) is a coalition of several armed opposition groups and defectors
[5]: Damascus is the capital of Syria
References
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