Watchdog: HTS Militants Tortured Eight Detainees to Death in July

By Staff, Agencies

Militants affiliated with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham [HTS] tortured at least eight detainees to death in July, according to a report released by the UK-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights [SOHR].

The watchdog highlighted a sharp increase in deaths resulting from torture inside HTS-run prisons and detention facilities across Syria.

SOHR documented numerous cases of physical abuse, sectarian targeting, and attempts to cover up the deaths by secretly burying victims away from their communities.

One of the most disturbing incidents occurred on July 23 in the coastal province of Tartous, where four young men from the Alawite community were detained by the HTS-affiliated General Security forces.

Among them, Ahmed Khaour was reportedly subjected to sectarian insults and ordered to imitate a dog. When he refused, he was beaten to death. The remaining three were held without charge, and HTS authorities allegedly attempted to bury the victims outside their village, further inflaming tensions.

On July 29, five more detainees, including a father and his two sons from the Alawite sect, died in detention in Homs. They had been arrested in a December 2024 raid in Wadi al-Dhahab. Two other men from the same neighborhood were also tortured to death and buried in Tel al-Nasr cemetery under tight secrecy.

Another case took place on July 30, involving a young man from Damascus’ al-Qaboun neighborhood. The man, who had returned briefly from Germany, was arrested near the Umayyad Mosque. His body was later handed over to his family bearing signs of severe torture, including multiple bruises and visible injuries.

These cases form part of a broader pattern of repression and lawlessness that has intensified across Syria following the fall of President Bashar Al-Assad’s government in late 2024. HTS, which now controls large areas of northern Syria, stands accused of systematic abuses, particularly against the Alawite community.

SOHR condemned the HTS’s actions as “a flagrant violation of human rights and international treaties prohibiting torture.” The group demanded transparent investigations into every custodial death and called for international judicial bodies to ensure accountability.

The war monitor also urged the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained individuals and insisted their legal rights be upheld without interference from political or militant authorities.

SOHR previously reported that in March, HTS forces carried out a brutal offensive that killed at least 1,600 Alawite civilians in a span of just three days. Those massacres were accompanied by widespread looting and the burning of Alawite homes.