Syria Forms Committee To Investigate Suwayda Violence
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Syria has pledged to investigate clashes in the southern province of Suwayda which killed hundreds of people last month -the second major episode of sectarian violence since the ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
In a decree dated July 31, justice minister Muzher al-Wais said a committee of seven people - including judges, lawyers and a military official - would look into the circumstances that led to the "events in Suwayda" and report back within three months.
The committee would investigate reported attacks and abuses against civilians and refer anyone proven to have participated in such attacks to the judiciary, Reuters reported.
The violence in Suwayda began on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions.
Government forces were sent to quell the fighting but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied territories. Suwayda province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had longstanding tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Suwayda city and surrounding towns for nearly a week.
In March, hundreds of Alawite civilians were killed after government-aligned forces deployed to Syria's coastal areas following a deadly attack on new government forces by militias still aligned with Assad, who hails from the Alawite minority.
The fact-finding committee established after the March killings last month referred 298 people suspected of carrying out abuses against Alawites to the judiciary.
The committee said it found no evidence of commanders ordering troops to commit violations and that 265 people had been involved in the initial attack on government forces.
