Following its recent capture of major cities in Syria, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, pledged to respect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. Rights experts, noting the group’s extremist ideology and history of brutality, caution that these promises must be backed by tangible actions.
HTS, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, along with a coalition of Turkish-backed armed groups, has in the past week seized control of Aleppo, Hama and dozens of surrounding towns in northwest Syria amid a complete collapse of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Shortly after capturing Aleppo, which has significant Kurdish and Christian populations, HTS issued statements reassuring both minority groups that they would be protected under its rule. HTS leaders have also met with representatives of Aleppo’s Christian community.
Rights groups acknowledge that such statements are a positive step but highlight HTS’s poor human rights record in areas it has governed in recent years, particularly in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
“As we watch the HTS-led opposition coalition liberate areas that have been under the Assad regime, we have so far seen the protection of religious and ethnic minorities,” said Nadine Maenza, president of the Washington-based International Religious Freedom Secretariat.
“We pray that continues, as HTS has a troubling history of governing under a harsh version of Islamic law in Idlib,” she told VOA.
HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, is a Sunni Islamist group that has been a major actor in Syria’s 13-year conflict. It was the main affiliate of al-Qaida in Syria until 2017, when it formally severed ties with the global terror group.
According to The CIA World Factbook, Sunni Muslim Arabs make up 50% of Syria’s nearly 24 million population, while Alawites, Kurds and Christians make up 45%. The remaining percentage comes from Druze, Ismaili and other ethnic and religious groups.
In an interview with CNN that aired Friday, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani admitted that “there were some violations against them [minorities] by certain individuals during periods of chaos, but we addressed these issues.”
“No one has the right to erase another group. These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them,” he said.
'Time will tell'
Hadeel Oueis, a Washington-based Syrian journalist, noted a sense of caution and anticipation among the various communities now living under HTS rule.
“I have been speaking with members of my family in Aleppo, and there seems to be [a] degree of self-control not only toward Christians but also Alawites and other groups,” Oueis, who is a Syriac Christian, told VOA by phone.
“Only time will tell if HTS is truly committed to changing and presenting a different image of itself to both Syrians and the international community,” she said.
Experts say that while HTS has demonstrated a degree of tolerance toward minorities with no significant abuses reported in recent days, rights groups should closely monitor the actions of its allied rebel factions.
Izzadin Saleh, executive director of the Synergy Association for Victims in Syria, said his group has documented violations committed by the Syrian National Army, or SNA, a coalition of Turkish-backed Islamist militias, against Kurdish residents in other parts of Aleppo province.
The SNA was established in 2017 with Turkey’s support. The umbrella organization previously took part in two Turkish-backed offensives against Kurdish forces in 2018 and 2019.
Some groups aligned with the SNA have been known for their radical Islamist ideology. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division, two main factions within the SNA, for “serious human rights abuses against those residing in the Afrin region of northern Syria.”
Saleh told VOA by phone that “SNA’s rhetoric explicitly incites violence against the Kurds in particular,” adding that “they are accusing all Kurdish residents of being terrorists.”
Maenza of the IRF Secretariat also stated that SNA militias have targeted Kurds, Christians and Yazidis, particularly those from the Shahba region of Aleppo.
Experts say all parties involved in crimes and rights abuses in the Syrian conflict must be held accountable when the country reaches a permanent political settlement.
“If the Syrian war has taught us anything, it is that the Syrian regime is not the only party that has committed horrific crimes against civilians; other groups have equally – and at times even worse – perpetrated crimes in areas they have captured from the regime,” said Bassam Alahmad, executive director of the Paris-based advocacy group Syrians for Truth and Justice.
"It is important to ensure there is a comprehensive path to accountability in the post-conflict era,” he said.
