UN probe: Syrian minorities face kidnappings, rape, and arbitrary detention

“While transition demands accountability, it is important to carefully balance justice and stability,” the report said.

The findings were based on approximately 500 interviews, along with authenticated documents, photographs, videos, and satellite imagery from multiple sources, including non-governmental organizations and the UN.

Last year, women and girls, primarily from Alawite communities, were abducted, often from streets and markets during the day.

Investigating 21 cases, including four minors, the commission found that the kidnappings were largely carried out by armed actors, organized crime groups, or individual criminals. In one case, the perpetrators were foreign fighters nominally integrated with government forces under the Syrian Defense Ministry.

The Alawite victims were subjected to slurs and beatings during their captivity. At least eight abductees were subjected to sexual violence, including gang rape and forced marriage, and three of the known victims were returned to their communities pregnant.

The report also documented attempts to coerce female victims into religious practices. At least five of them were interrogated about their knowledge of Islam and forced to carry out religious rites or wear niqabs during their captivity.

Some of the women, moreover, were taken to Idlib Governorate, while others were smuggled across the border into Lebanon.

According to the commission, the response by state authorities to the abductions varied. In some cases, investigations were opened but not followed up on, while in others, authorities discouraged families from pursuing legal action.

In three documented incidents, after government forces secured the release of abducted victims, the victims themselves were arrested. In two cases, judges in Idlib investigated them for morality-related crimes.

Case in point, one Alawite woman who contacted her family for help and was rescued by state forces was then brought to a criminal security department in Harim in Idlib. The general prosecutor in Sarmada accused both the woman and her abductor of adultery. The woman was later released.

Another victim of abduction and sexual violence was arrested and detained by government forces for 24 days without charges and was not brought before a judge.

The report said the impact of the violence extended beyond the victims. Some girls and women stopped pursuing education and began wearing headscarves in an attempt to avoid being identified as members of a minority group.

Sexual violence was also documented during the July attack against Druze communities in southern Syria. The commission recorded cases of rape, forced nudity, invasive body searches, and sexual threats against Druze women during incursions and house searches carried out by armed forces.

The report said there were patterns of violence committed by members of government armed forces, with victims targeted based on their religious affiliation, ethnicity, age, and gender.

In addition to the March attacks on the Alawite community and the July attacks on Druze villages, the commission noted allegations of extrajudicial killings throughout the year.

Further, the OHCHR also documented what it described as “isolated yet disturbing cases” of minority groups being denied health care at hospitals in Homs, Hama, Latakia, and Sweida. In some instances, discriminatory treatment contributed to severe medical outcomes or death.

In several incidents, teenage boys were even beaten and forced to bark, crawl, and drink from puddles.

Those arbitrarily detained were held in both official and unofficial detention facilities. Many were held without judicial warrants, without appearing before a judge or lawyer, and without being informed of the reason for their arrest.

Six Alawite men arbitrarily arrested in Homs in January and February 2025 died a violent death while in custody. Some relatives said they received no information about investigations or accountability efforts.

Families were also unable to recover the bodies of their loved ones or hold burial ceremonies. In two cases, relatives were allowed to bury the deceased detainees only on the condition that the coffins remained sealed.

Along with that, the OHCHR’s commission documented cases of torture and ill-treatment in 18 official detention facilities and 12 makeshift ones in Aleppo, Daraa, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartus, Idlib, and the rural Damascus governorates. Abuses were also reported at checkpoints in Homs and Tartus.

Members of government security forces reportedly used rifle butts, sticks, pipes, metal bars, cables, and a nail-studded stick to assault detainees.

One inmate was abused while naked. Detainees were also subjected to degrading treatment, sexual violence, and psychological torture, including mock executions.

The commission documented 24 cases in which detainees were held incommunicado for periods ranging from five days to a year.

Some families said authorities denied holding their relatives despite information indicating they were in government custody. The report concluded that such cases amounted to enforced disappearances.

Syria is still undergoing efforts to disarm and reintegrate hundreds of thousands of members of former Assad-era security forces, as well as fighters from non-state armed groups.

In December 2024, the new authorities announced an amnesty for Syrian Arab Army soldiers who did not have “blood on their hands,” allowing them to return weapons and settle their personal status.

According to the commission, the effort led to hundreds of former soldiers disarming from their weapons, including over 120,000 fighters in Latakia and Tartus.

However, some refused to disarm out of fear of retaliation. Attacks on the Alawite community, including against those who had undergone the settlement process, have threatened trust in the program.

In January, the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led Military Operations Command confirmed that the former Syrian army and security agencies had been dissolved. Many personnel, along with members of the formerly designated HTS group, were incorporated into a new unified army.

The commission said the integration process did not appear to include systematic human rights vetting, allowing individuals previously sanctioned for abuses to continue operating within the military.

It also said shortcomings in control, coordination, training, and discipline within the integrated forces contributed to sectarian violence against Druze communities in southern Syria.

Authorities later introduced human rights and humanitarian standards training in mid-2025, in cooperation with the Red Cross and the UN.

Regardless, the commission said, further measures are needed to prevent violations by military and law enforcement personnel.

Despite these concerns, the report noted efforts by the new authorities to address crimes committed during the Assad era. National commissions have been established to investigate transitional justice issues and cases involving missing persons, with several Syrian human rights defenders, including women, appointed as initial members.

However, the process concerning the national inquiry into the July violence against the Druze community in Sweida has stalled. The role of senior officials and commanders in those attacks, moreover, has not been clarified, though some perpetrators have been arrested.

The new Syrian authorities have issued arrest warrants for the former president and former senior army, intelligence, and security officials over allegations of human rights violations, abuses, and corruption.

As of January 2026, 6,331 former Syrian Arab Army personnel had been arrested, though 1,158 were later released due to an apparent lack of evidence.

The commission said such legal efforts could help reduce vigilante attacks, although tensions and acts of revenge have continued.

Turning to the law enforcement system inherited from the Assad era, which the report said had “served as a tool to violate rather than protect” Syrians, the OHCHR identified both improvements and newly introduced concerns.

Judicial salaries were increased, which the report said could allow judges to “live with dignity” and act against extortion and corruption entrenched under the Assad regime.

Judges who had held political roles in the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the People’s Assembly were dismissed, and those who served on the now-dissolved counterterrorism court were referred for investigation.

However, efforts to establish an accountable criminal justice system are being undermined by the appointment of some court leaders who lack the law degrees and qualifications required for their positions.

The report warned that uncertainty about the roles and authority of newly appointed judicial officials could ultimately threaten the independence of Syria’s judiciary.