Assad’s Henchmen Dig up Corpses from the Judeidat al-Fadel Massacre

Press Statement

Syrian Coalition

Istanbul, Turkey

December 3, 2013

On Friday, November 29, the pro-Assad militia “National Defense Forces” dug up bodies of victims from the Judeidat al-Fadel massacre, claiming there were “80 foreign armed men” buried in those graves.

This heinous act adds to the list of war crimes and crimes against humanity the Assad regime is responsible for in Syria. Around 8 months ago, on April 21st 2013, the regime’s republican guards, forces from artillery Regiment No. 153 and Regiment No.100, along with Shabiha, entered Judeidat al-Fadel, rural Damascus. These Assad forces slaughtered with knives or burned alive nearly 566 civilians, including women and children. It took locals several days before they could retrieve the bodies of victims for burial.

The regime's actions of digging up corpses in this area are a clear indication that it is trying to destroy evidence implicating it in the massacre of Judeidat al-Fadel, especially after the UN's human rights chief recently stated in an inquiry that it has found Assad personally linked to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Assad regime has violated the Syrian penal code on the abuse of corpses, international humanitarian law, and article 34 of the first additional protocol of the Geneva Conventions, which forbid the abuse of dead bodies.

The monstrous Assad regime shows absolutely no respect to basic human values and moral decency. It has sunk to such degrading levels of humanity that it does not even allow the corpses that it has killed to rest in peace.

We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.