00:00this is apropos with the motives behind the abductions remain unclear but the
00:07women concerned are all from the same religious minority as ousted dictator
00:12Bashar al-Assad since the start of this year dozens of Alawite women have
00:18disappeared under suspicious circumstances or been kidnapped from
00:22their homes by armed militants spreading fear across the coastal population of
00:27Syria as France 24's Jenna Lebrun reports this man is still shaken he says he
00:36has been receiving death threats for weeks now but has decided to speak out
00:40about what happened to his sister for his safety he does so anonymously
00:50my sister used to take the minibus to work in Tartusen back every day until the
00:55day she was kidnapped like around 60 others the young woman was kidnapped
00:59while she was on her way to the nearby city of Tartus people at the station saw
01:06her get off the bus and then she just disappeared around 2 p.m. my brother got
01:12a call from an Iraqi number the man on the line said don't look for your sister
01:17don't ask about her don't file a complaint your sister's with us and if you try to
01:24look for her or ask questions we'll send her back to you dead
01:28paranoia is descending over this seaside town amidst the mass violence which Sunni rebels carried out
01:49against the Alawites along the Syrian coast this spring women have been particularly vulnerable many of
01:56them no longer feel safe going out alone
02:01this whole kidnapping situation is worrying a lot of people every day two to
02:09three women disappear victims come from all kinds of backgrounds married women
02:15minors university students even school girls this should be taken seriously by all Syrians
02:23this young woman is now reunited with her mother she and her sister are one of the four women who
02:35are known to have safely returned her captors she says were Sunni aren't men driven by a lust for
02:41revenge against the Alawites a concerning claim to the current government since these men may very
02:47well belong to the radical fringes of a new military structure it's really not our fault at all we have
02:54nothing to do with the old regime or any of that the mother continues the story she says her daughters
03:02were released after two months in captivity left on the street in the middle of the night dressed in a
03:07niqab potentially out of fear or shame the women insist they were not abused but other survivors have spoken out
03:16about being humiliated drugged and beaten up
03:19they disappeared on March 23rd and came back on May 24th
03:28my daughters told me that a car stops them and asked them are you Sunni or Alawite when they said
03:37Alawite men got out with weapons forced them into the car and took them away when they got out they
03:47were put in a basement and stayed there for several months these women probably escaped the worst some
03:57families have received proof their loved ones have been executed so far the authorities have not commented
04:03on the matter let's bring in kawa hassan non-resident fellow at the middle east and north africa program
04:10at the stimson center kawa thanks so much for being with us on the program a difficult report there from
04:17our correspondent in syria up to 60 women have disappeared since january from all kinds of
04:23backgrounds all kinds of ages why are these women being targeted do you think and where are they now the
04:29ones who haven't been returned the ones who haven't been killed well obviously they have been targeted for
04:38their you know background because they are Alawites and for radicals jihadi elements in the new cn
04:50government for them you know they they they are part of the the former regime which which is not true I
05:00mean these are you know civilians who had nothing to do with the regime of of of asset they are
05:07Alawites and that is the only you know for them the only problem so this is basically you know sectarianism on
05:17steroid I would say and the the disturbing development is is that so far the government the new organization
05:26as you you know your report said hasn't you know put out any public statements as to why they were you
05:34know kidnapped killed who are the perpetrators because most of them are known actually and you know
05:41armed militants part of the you know the the security apparatus in Syria but you know no official word so
05:49far about these sectarian attacks killings you know kidnapping so it's indeed very disturbing and it's also
06:01you know over this week also we had two very disturbing incidents one in Hama and one in Damascus again
06:09involving Alawites you know civilian Alawites who have nothing to do whatsoever with the with former
06:16regime so in Hama eight people were killed eight you know from from Alawite background and yesterday five
06:25young you know youngsters were killed in Damascus again Alawites you know they were working in a restaurant
06:31in Damascus and they were taken by armed militants and their bodies were found in an in a hospital
06:39and so far again you know the government hasn't put out any any statement as to why they were killed
06:44why they were targeted because of their you know their background and and you know there's when there
06:50is no public statement and there are no actions taken by government to ensure you know um uh you know these
06:57people are are are all accountable it's indeed very very disturbing you know not only for the obviously for
07:03the Alawite community but for the overall human rights situation in posh asasi yeah and also reports
07:08suggest that often the women who are being abducted it's happening during the day while they're going
07:14shopping while they're going to work does that suggest to you that these kidnappers these militants are
07:20acting with impunity with the tacit support perhaps even of authorities well i don't know whether they
07:28they they you know um whether they uh you know they have tacit support of the authorities uh but
07:34definitely you know uh they they do act with impunity you know and the fact that you know so far no one
07:40has been arrested uh you know so far no one has been held accountable so that raises raises serious
07:48questions about the willingness and the um you know the readiness uh of of the government to take action
07:58against these sectarian crimes and this comes as you say we've seen recent incidents in the last few
08:05days even you mentioned the eight people who were killed just yesterday also over 1500 Alawites
08:12targeted in attacks earlier this year while the government was cracking down on pro-assad militants
08:18you've said that the slaughter of Alawites it was a wake-up call for regional and international powers you
08:24said that at the time has it been well um i mean uh not really i mean it it has been a wake-up call
08:34but i haven't seen any concerted action pressure from key players u.s other countries who really have
08:42leveraged with a new government to put pressure on the government and and and to make sure that those who
08:49committed these uh these atrocities are brought to justice as you may recall the government has uh
08:56set up um an official commission to uh you know to ascertain what happened who did what so far it's
09:05been more than two months uh you know the uh no official report has been issued uh even though it doesn't
09:13need so much time to really uh conduct a fact-finding mission because most of the perpetrators they uh
09:20you know they are known they uh they uh they videoed their atrocities and it's it's available for the
09:28commission to really to a certain uh who did what but uh no report has been issued and when you don't have
09:36accountability for those horrible crimes committed in march that you know basically
09:43um you know uh gives these new atrocities you know you know uh human rights violations we have spoken
09:51about yesterday and last week and the kidnapping of of of these alabites you know um girls that is
09:59because there hasn't been any accountability for the atrocities committed in march so yes it has been a
10:06wake-up call but i haven't really seen any tangible uh international action to put pressure on government
10:16to uh you know to to bring those perpetrators to uh to justice unfortunately and what kind of
10:23pressure needs to be applied we've seen the easing of sanctions by both the eu also the us we saw very
10:29high profile meeting between syrian leaders and donald trump so at this point what needs to be done and
10:34will it be done well i think what needs to be done is is is very clear i mean what needs to be done
10:41is that uh us uh you know countries with leverage with their new government they should publicly call
10:50on government to uh you know um to make sure that those who commit these atrocities crimes not only
10:59against alavis but also against other groups you know druz or whoever you know that in addition to
11:05lifting sanctions which is really a very good step and uh you know it's it's good for the syrian people
11:12definitely and that should be applauded and commended you know but only lifting sanctions without also
11:19you know calling on the government to respect human rights and to make sure that those who were are
11:27responsible for previous and current um human rights violations against alibi's against jews against
11:35you know other groups uh that they are that they should be uh brought to justice they should hold
11:40accountable and and basically what we need here is um you know calls and actions by by uh by these
11:49governments to put pressure on the on the syrian government to make sure that you know um that uh you know
11:56that that that perpetrators are hold to account and that syrians uh you know whether alivites kurds
12:03druz but also you know other syrians really feel that the new syria is different from the the sea of
12:09ascent cow we'll have to leave it there for now but thanks so much for joining us on the program
12:15that is kawa hassan there from the stimson center
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