Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
May 02, 2020
On May 2, 2013, Assad regime forces, supported by loyalist paramilitaries, stormed the village of al-Bayda near the town of Banyas in Tartus province and committed a horrific massacre against unarmed civilians. Dozens of unarmed civilians, including whole families, were slaughtered with knives or blunt objects, men were summarily executed, and their homes set on fire. The barbaric attack claimed the lives of at least 248 people, the majority of whom were children and women. Children saw their parents being cold-bloodedly slaughtered, helplessly waiting for their turn to be slaughtered without any hope of survival.
This massacre, along with the series of massacres that pro-regime forces committed in that year, including 20 which were committed with the use of knives and cleavers, were yet another proof of Assad’s insistence on pursuing his bloody policies in the face of the Syrian revolution, further plunging Syria into a dark abyss.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition’s legal committee and several independent local and international rights groups continue to raise the issue of war crimes against the Syrian people and gather evidence in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice must take place within a formal, comprehensive international framework. War crimes and crimes against humanity taking place in Syria must be referred to the International Criminal Court without further delay.
May our wounded recover, our detainees be free, and our fallen heroes rest in peace.
Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
