President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Hadi Al-Bahra, emphasized that the war crimes perpetrated by the Assad regime in the 1980s in Hama and Aleppo stand out as some of the most heinous acts against innocent Syrians.
Al-Bahra highlighted that Syrians experienced a brief period of democratic national governance, followed by a series of successive military coups. This led to the imposition of military rule, ultimately culminating in the dominance of a single party and later a single family. This period marked the usurpation of power with a history marred by tyranny, oppression, and egregious war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Emphasizing the severity of these crimes, Al-Bahra specifically pointed to the war crimes committed in Hama and Aleppo during the 1980s. These events witnessed large-scale executions of civilians, and since 2011, the Assad regime has continued to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity. The toll of these atrocities has resulted in hundreds of thousands of Syrian men and women becoming victims.
Al-Bahra noted that in 2011, the Syrian people rose up to reclaim their human, constitutional, and political rights. However, they were met with violent suppression and destruction from the Assad regime, which adopted the slogan “Assad or we burn the country.”
Al-Bahra underscored that the Syrian people persist in their struggle for justice and the rule of law, aspiring to transition to a democratic system based on political pluralism and the peaceful transfer of power. This envisioned system aims to uphold the dignity of citizens while ensuring their freedoms and rights under a framework of equal citizenship.
Today, Friday, marks the 42nd anniversary of the Hama Massacre perpetrated by the Assad regime in 1982. Approximately 40,000 civilians lost their lives during a 27-day carnage, characterized by a suffocating siege, intense bombardment, ground invasion, and mass executions led by Rifaat al-Assad, the commander of the notorious Defense Brigades.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
