Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
August 25, 2022
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Darayya Massacre, which the Assad regime committed against civilians in the town of Darayya in Rural Damascus between 20-25 August 2012. Approximately 700 people were killed in that massacre. Rights groups documented the full names of 524 people, while no fewer than 1,500 others were injured and detained.
The Darayya Massacre was one of the most heinous crimes that the Assad regime committed against the Syrian people in response for demanding freedom and dignity. The Assad regime forces begun the massacre by encircling the town then shelling civilians homes and the only field hospital in the town. Regime forces then stormed the town and went on a killing spree against civilians, executing entire families without distinguishing between a child, an old man and a woman. Regime forces massacred the people who took shelter in and around the Abu Suleiman Al-Darani Mosque, then burned as many corpses as they could. It was one of Assad’s most horrific war crimes against defenseless civilians.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) expresses its dissatisfaction with the meek response which the international community shows to the Assad regime’s atrocious crimes. It is not a dictatorial regime only, but also a genocidal regime that has adopted genocide, mass killings, arrest and torture as a policy against the Syrian people for rejecting its rule and demanding freedom. The sounds of the criminals’ knives, bullets and guns have been louder than the voice of international justice, leaving the Syrian people to suffer from the crimes of the Assad regime.
In spite of these massacres, the Syrian people will not give up their revolution and its legitimate demands for holding the criminals accountable, overthrowing the Assad regime and its symbols, and bringing about a political transition in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
