Syria Promises Justice After Video Shows Unarmed Man Killed in Sweida Hospital
Activists have also demanded an independent inquiry, warning that a government-led probe would lack credibility.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Syria’s interior ministry on Monday pledged to hold accountable those responsible for the apparent killing of an unarmed man inside a hospital during last month’s deadly violence in Druze-majority Sweida province, according to AFP.
The statement came after a video, purportedly from hospital surveillance footage, emerged showing armed men in military uniforms shooting dead an individual identified by local media outlet Suwayda 24 as an engineer volunteering with the hospital team. The incident reportedly took place on July 16.
“We condemn and denounce this act in the strongest terms and affirm that the perpetrators will be held accountable and brought to justice... whatever their affiliation,” the interior ministry said, adding that an official has been appointed to directly oversee the investigation.
The July clashes, which began on the 13th between local Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, escalated after outside forces joined the fighting, leaving some 1,600 people dead — many of them Druze civilians — according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
While Syrian authorities have said government forces intervened to stop the bloodshed, witnesses, Druze factions, and the Observatory have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. The Observatory described the hospital killing as a “shocking field execution” allegedly carried out by members of the defense and interior ministries.
Rights activists, including Mohammad al-Abdallah of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, have called the killing a war crime and urged United Nations investigators to enter Sweida immediately. Activists have also demanded an independent inquiry, warning that a government-led probe would lack credibility.
Despite a ceasefire, tensions remain high in Sweida, where residents accuse the government of enforcing a blockade — a claim authorities deny, citing the delivery of humanitarian aid convoys.
