Urgent: Syria’s human rights defenders warn of impending civil war

• Sectarian violence threatens civilian lives as unrest in Suwayda continues
• Urgent humanitarian access halted by ongoing clashes between armed groups
• Fears of violence spreading across the country are deepened by growing hate speech

Human rights defenders are calling on the UN and Syria’s interim authorities to not spare any effort to save the country from a civil war that would have devastating impact on so many lives.

Since Monday, armed groups reportedly affiliated with the interim government have carried out killings, heavy weaponry attacks, and intimidation of civilians in Suwayda. Field executions and enforced displacement of civilians have been documented, while families searched for the bodies and mourned their loved ones.

The humanitarian crisis is deteriorating amid dangerous food, water and medicine shortages, while aid groups and first responders are unable to enter the city in fear of ongoing clashes. UN agencies have yet to respond to civilians’ call to open safe corridors.

Following a tentative ceasefire agreed on Thursday where government troops withdrew from the city, a new wave of violence erupted targeting Bedouin communities in the governorate by armed groups affiliated with al-Hijri, a religious leader of the Druze community. Ongoing incidents of incitement, discrimination, acts of violence, and forced displacement have been reported.

Reports of tribal groups joining a revenge campaign from across the country in support of the Bedouins have sparked fears of an all-out civil war.

In Damascus, activists started an open sit-in by the parliament yesterday to demand an immediate end to sectarian killings and Israeli aggression, to criminalize rising sectarian incitement and to start  an inclusive national dialogue.

Razan Rashidi, executive director of The Syria Campaign said:

“It’s utterly scary to see this dangerous rise of sectarian incitement, online and offline, that is driving our country into a civil war. The international community has used its leverage to support our demands in lifting Syria’s sanctions and engaged with the interim government from Brussels to New York. The engagement must now come with accountability and commitment to upholding rule of law to protect civilians, ensure unhindered humanitarian access, end the culture of impunity and guarantee a peaceful political solution. Anything less is a betrayal to Syria’s struggle for freedom and justice.”