1 thought on “Abduction & Enslavement of Alawite Women”
Declan Hayes
Quoting the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora
His Eminence, Sheikh Gheral Gheral
Open Letter
To:
Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations
Members of the UN Security Council
Mr. Special Envoy of the United Nations to Syria
International Court of Justice
International Organizations Concerned with Human Rights and Women’s Rights
Date: May 8, 2025
Subject: Abduction and Sexual Enslavement of Alawite Women
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora submits this letter to condemn the repeated violations committed by outlawed armed factions against Alawite women in the Syrian coastal regions. These violations involve systematic kidnappings occurring in educational institutions and public facilities in broad daylight. The victims’ families are then forced to provide fabricated accounts aimed at exonerating the perpetrators. This often occurs with the direct complicity of the relevant security agencies, primarily the so-called “General Security.” The Council, in cooperation with multiple field sources, has monitored an escalation in these incidents in recent months, with approximately 60 kidnappings recorded, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The case of Mira Jalal Thabet, a 20-year-old girl from the town of Al-Mahtabiyeh in the Talkalakh area of Homs Governorate, is one of the most notable of these crimes. She was kidnapped on April 28, 2025, from an educational institution by a group affiliated with an extremist organization, with evidence linking members within the institute to the crime.
When the victim’s father approached the General Security authorities to file a complaint, he was arrested without any legal basis. After several days of forced detention, Mira returned to her family, forced to wear a blue niqab. It later emerged that she had been forcibly married to her kidnapper, an emir of the so-called Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Her return was accompanied by members of the General Security, raising suspicions about the direct involvement of these security agencies in the incident and confirming the existence of official complicity. These practices constitute a flagrant violation of all international human rights conventions, including UN Resolution 1325 on the protection of women in times of armed conflict. These crimes also reflect the failure of the existing authorities to provide security and protection to citizens, particularly Alawite women and girls, who are systematically subjected to targeting, kidnapping, and sexual slavery.
Accordingly, the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad calls for the following:
1. Urgent international action to ensure the safety and security of citizens on the Syrian coast, particularly members of the Alawite community, who are clearly targeted.
2. Implement effective accountability mechanisms against the perpetrators of these crimes and those who collude with them, including members of the security services.
3. Establish international mechanisms to protect women from kidnapping and sexual slavery, and to guarantee their freedom and human dignity.
4. Include the Syrian coast region in an international protection mechanism, including the adoption of expanded decentralization based on the participation of the region’s people in security and protection mechanisms.
5. Work to expel all foreign fighters from Syria in general and from the Syrian coast in particular, given the direct threat they pose to local, national, and regional security.
We address this appeal to the international community, calling for it to assume moral and legal responsibility and take urgent steps to protect civilians in Syria and stop the ongoing crimes against women.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad
May 8, 2025
Quoting the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora
His Eminence, Sheikh Gheral Gheral
Open Letter
To:
Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations
Members of the UN Security Council
Mr. Special Envoy of the United Nations to Syria
International Court of Justice
International Organizations Concerned with Human Rights and Women’s Rights
Date: May 8, 2025
Subject: Abduction and Sexual Enslavement of Alawite Women
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora submits this letter to condemn the repeated violations committed by outlawed armed factions against Alawite women in the Syrian coastal regions. These violations involve systematic kidnappings occurring in educational institutions and public facilities in broad daylight. The victims’ families are then forced to provide fabricated accounts aimed at exonerating the perpetrators. This often occurs with the direct complicity of the relevant security agencies, primarily the so-called “General Security.” The Council, in cooperation with multiple field sources, has monitored an escalation in these incidents in recent months, with approximately 60 kidnappings recorded, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The case of Mira Jalal Thabet, a 20-year-old girl from the town of Al-Mahtabiyeh in the Talkalakh area of Homs Governorate, is one of the most notable of these crimes. She was kidnapped on April 28, 2025, from an educational institution by a group affiliated with an extremist organization, with evidence linking members within the institute to the crime.
When the victim’s father approached the General Security authorities to file a complaint, he was arrested without any legal basis. After several days of forced detention, Mira returned to her family, forced to wear a blue niqab. It later emerged that she had been forcibly married to her kidnapper, an emir of the so-called Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Her return was accompanied by members of the General Security, raising suspicions about the direct involvement of these security agencies in the incident and confirming the existence of official complicity. These practices constitute a flagrant violation of all international human rights conventions, including UN Resolution 1325 on the protection of women in times of armed conflict. These crimes also reflect the failure of the existing authorities to provide security and protection to citizens, particularly Alawite women and girls, who are systematically subjected to targeting, kidnapping, and sexual slavery.
Accordingly, the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad calls for the following:
1. Urgent international action to ensure the safety and security of citizens on the Syrian coast, particularly members of the Alawite community, who are clearly targeted.
2. Implement effective accountability mechanisms against the perpetrators of these crimes and those who collude with them, including members of the security services.
3. Establish international mechanisms to protect women from kidnapping and sexual slavery, and to guarantee their freedom and human dignity.
4. Include the Syrian coast region in an international protection mechanism, including the adoption of expanded decentralization based on the participation of the region’s people in security and protection mechanisms.
5. Work to expel all foreign fighters from Syria in general and from the Syrian coast in particular, given the direct threat they pose to local, national, and regional security.
We address this appeal to the international community, calling for it to assume moral and legal responsibility and take urgent steps to protect civilians in Syria and stop the ongoing crimes against women.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad
May 8, 2025