Syria begins trial over ethnic violence in March

Syrian troops and Alawite minority members were on trial Tuesday as Damascus started legal proceedings against those accused of participating in violence that struck the country’s coast in March.

Between March 7 and 9, the Syrian security forces killed nearly 1,500 Alawite minority members, including civilians, after rebels aligned with the deposed Syrian ruler, Bashar Assad, killed over 200 Syrian troops.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa condemned the violence and asked the National Commission of Inquiry to investigate the killings.

Fourteen people appeared before Aleppo’s Palace of Justice on Tuesday, with the defendants evenly split between members of the Syrian armed forces and pro-Assad Alawite religious minority members. 

The seven defendants from the Syrian armed forces have been charged with premeditated murder, while the pro-Assad defendants face charges of sedition, fomenting civil war and murder.

The accused who entered the Palace of Justice were a small fraction of the 298 suspects identified by Syria’s National Commission of Inquiry in July following an investigation into the March massacre of the Alawite community on Syria’s coast. 

Several independent investigations have concluded that both Syrian troops and pro-Assad fighters committed atrocities during the fighting. However, the National Commission of Inquiry investigation concluded that Syrian government and military leaders did not order, or have knowledge of, the killing of civilians.

The trial is seen as a major test of the power of Mr. al-Sharaa’s government as it approaches the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime. Since December, he has seen ethnic violence break out all over Syria, with Alawite, Druze and Kurdish militia clashing with government troops. 

The violence could impede Mr. al-Sharaa’s goals to stabilize Syria domestically and strengthen Damascus’ international relationships.

In the south, conflict between Bedouin tribes, Druze minority members and Syrian forces led to violence that left hundreds dead. Israel, which has a sizable Druze minority within its borders, launched strikes on Syrian military targets in response. 

In the north, Syrian government forces clashed last month with U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, with both sides blaming the other for the outbreak of violence. The Kurdish troops signed an agreement this year to fully integrate into the formal Syrian army.