Syria is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.
Jihad against the infidel Druze
Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, but this week’s fighting has escalated to new levels of violence.
Druze commander rejects Islamic rule in Syria
The Druze in Syria in the area of Druze Mountain continue their protests, carrying US and Israeli flags, demanding independence, self-determination, and the release of Druze hostages held by authorities. A picture of Sheikh Mufak Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze in… https://t.co/LNW2BVG6Mn
— Lillian H. Mueller (@lill_the_swiss) September 20, 2025
Druze reject Suwayda roadmap: “The Higher Legal Committee in Suwayda, considered the contents of the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s statement to be blatantly contradictory:
“The statement referred to the invitation of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, but then went on to affirm that accountability will take place according to Syrian law. We see this contradiction as stripping the international investigation of its meaning, since it is inconceivable that the accused could at the same time be the judge.
International justice is based on independence and impartiality, and it cannot be reduced to local channels that long ago lost any legitimacy or trust.” In the second point of its statement, the Committee referred to the denial of responsibility: “The statement tried to portray the Syrian government as a neutral party seeking reconciliation, while in reality the government and its security and military apparatuses were direct partners in massacres and violations that affected thousands of civilians, between the killed, the missing, and the kidnapped. Denial of responsibility does not open the path to reconciliation but entrenches the policy of impunity.”
The statement stressed the lack of trust in the national judiciary: “Experience has proven that the Syrian judicial institutions are politicized, subordinate to the executive authority, and incapable of providing any guarantees for fair trials. Accordingly, any talk of accountability under Syrian law is nothing more than a façade to whitewash crimes.”
The Legal Committee also pointed to attempts at internal fragmentation: “Through talk of local councils and joint police forces, which we interpret as an attempt to impose new guardianship over Suwayda and to sow discord among its people by pushing forward names that have lost social legitimacy and betrayed their community’s cause. We affirm in this regard that this exposed approach will only deepen internal division.”
In the fifth point of its statement, the Committee affirmed the right to self-determination: “The crimes committed in Suwayda, along with decades of marginalization, deprivation, and exclusion, provide compelling grounds for demanding the right to self-determination. Accordingly, the people of Suwayda have the legal and moral right to determine their own destiny freely and independently, whether through self-administration or secession, as the last available option to guarantee their security, dignity, and existence.”
In the sixth point, the Committee called on the international community and all international actors to: “Refuse to recognize any arrangements imposed by force on the people of Suwayda; ensure an independent investigation and international accountability mechanisms free from Syrian government control; support the right of Suwayda’s people to self-determination, in accordance with international charters and the principle of no impunity,” stressing that “Suwayda’s future is decided by its own people alone, not through statements drafted in Damascus or external understandings.”
The Legal Committee concluded its statement with a categorical rejection of the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s communiqué, affirming that “what happened in July 2025 was not regrettable events, as stated, but fully-fledged crimes against humanity. Confronting these crimes cannot take place through local judicial theatrics, but through a transparent international process that leads to holding perpetrators accountable and guarantees the right of the people of Suwayda to freedom and self-determination.”
Source: – @suwayda24