WARNING: This story contains graphic details.
Hundreds of civilians in Syria have been killed in the midst of clashes between the forces of the interim government and the faithful of the Pro-Assad regime. But, far from moving to shadows, murders, in some cases, summary executions in fields and villages, have been published widely: they are often first published in telegram groups and shared widely on social media.
Content provides a vision of what happens on the ground During the ongoing Civil War of Syria. And human rights researchers are competing to collect it and analyze it, in some cases, before erasing the authors or eliminated by social media moderation systems. Collecting and analyzing videos is a crucial step in establishing a basis of facts and a basis for future investigations or accountability efforts.
« It is very important to do it quickly because automated content moderation can often eliminate harmful or graphic images if reported, even if it is not reported, if only automatically marked as violent content that can be violated by platform policies, » CBC News told CBC.
« Even some of the weekend contents were eliminated where we saw an increase in violence. »
Murder verification
The CIR has launched a new project that documents violence in Syria, included against civilians, in response to recent murders, which began after the fighters loyal to the Assad deposition regime, which were deployed in December 2024, according to reports, ambushed the government forces last week, killing civilians. The fighting spoke in revenge murders perpetrated by both government and non-governmental forces in areas populated by Alawite religious minority members, although they are the second largest religious group in Syria, a group that belongs to former President Bashar al-Assad.
Already, several human rights groups have published reports that combine official figures, testimonies of eye testimonies, and a verified video of social media in light on what is produced. These include the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Human Rights clockand the Center for Justia Justice and Responsibility (SJAC).
Strick said that the collection and verification of murder videos published on social media can help separate the truth from misinterpretation. Numerous videos I was traveling online As a result of violence, showing former incidents of violence recently portrayed.
The verification of the images also provides the public an essential view of what took place in detail during the murder campaign, where the victims may not have taken videos, but the authors have it.
« It’s really identifying what happened on the ground, » said Strick.
The CBC News Visual Research Team, which works with the SJAC, an NGO, the declared goal that is « meaningful justice and accountability for Syria », has verified the authenticity of three videos that circulate online and collected dozens more that remain without verification.
CBC News journalists collected videos, some of which SJAC also shared. Using reverse search tools and analyzing them to identify uniforms and badges, the team determined that the videos had not previously been shared. We have shared these uniforms, patches and badges with Sjac researchers, who confirmed CBC’s findings and added details.
CBC News only shows static portions of videos because of their graphic nature. The victims of the videos have not been identified.
In one, gunmen who carry the uniforms of Syria’s public security forces drag a person dressed in civilian clothes in a alley before shooting it. You can see five bodies in the video. Another gunman, dressed in black, can be seen filming the bodies with a phone. A shared photo The Syria state news agency indicates that at least one of the various men arrested to participate in extrajudicial killings was present in this video.
In a second video, a group of men wearing black uniforms dirty with the Syrian flag drag a person in a ditch next to a road, hit him with rifles and then shooting him. The cameras are paid, revealing a truck covered with the badges of Syria security forces.
In a third, two men shoot a body on the ground, moving moments earlier. They carry fatigues and patches, which seem to be the stamp of the prophet’s badge, brought by several Islamic militias in the country. At least one more body is visible, it is unclear whether they are alive or dead.
Arrests of the government forces made by members
In violence, 172 members of the security, police and military forces were killed by Assad -linked combatants, according to a statement from the Syrians for Human Rights Syrians (SNHR) Sent to CBC News. At least 211 civilians, including a humanitarian worker, were killed in direct features made by these groups, the organization said.
« It was only a panic mode, calling armed groups and anyone who can join to fight to help support the Government, » a senior researcher at the Citizen Laboratory of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy of the University of Toronto told CBC News.
The murders of revenge took place along the coast. Witnesses told The Associated Press that the Alawites were shot dead on the streets and the doors of their houses. The witnesses were also burned and plundered, the witnesses said. Government -aligned groups were responsible for the death of 420 civilians and fighters, including 39 children and 49 women, the SNHR said in a preliminary report.
The UN urges Syria’s interim leaders to protect civilians in the midst of fighting for security forces and those who remain loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The old army staff Allied with Assad has been conducting coordinated attacks and ambushes since Thursday.
CBC news could not verify these numbers independently. One says it has been checked 111 Total civil murder in clashes, with the ongoing process.
Ministry of the Interior of Syria Said Tuesday He had arrested four people in relation to attacks on civilians. A television report from a Lebanese news agency also showed that two other men have been arrested and linked them with a video circulating online in which two motorcycle men on another man on the civilian clothes and executed him, apparently at random.
Identification of social media crimes
Aljizawi told CBC News that videos published online for armed groups have been key to identifying crimes in the past.
« Many of the atrocities we identified … were through videos and photos that were brought and published on social media, » he said. « It is not unique to the Syrian conflict. »
Among the videos traveling online were Old Murder Videos Went through to be this week.
« Often, there is a level of propaganda that comes out in line to reduce, discredit or harm the events that occur on the ground, » said the Cir.
The misinformation helps to further divide the Syrians, said Aljizawi, as Pro-Assad forces can say that the acts were performed by the new temporary government, while others may use videos to deny that atrocities occur first.
« It is to harm the victims. It is to harm the community. It is to harm this very fragile and very critical transition. And it is not absolutely helping to have peace or a sense of stability in the country. »
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