videos of abuses against Alawite civilians are increasing on social networks

Since the installation of Syrian rebels in power at the beginning of the month, the Alawite community, from which former dictator Bashar al-Assad comes, has been targeted.

In Syria, clashes continue in the strongholds of the al-Assad regime between the rebels in power and the Alawite militias who have refused to lay down their weapons. At the same time, reports of abuses against Alawite civilians are increasing.

Until now, the reprisal violence was very little documented, with the new Syrian authorities explaining that it was only a matter of “isolated cases”. But on social networks, there are more and more videos of beatings and attacks.

In one of them, we see several men brutalized by armed rebels, arrested as they returned home, large pancakes of bread in their hands. “Here are these Alawite dogs!“, says the voice behind the camera. A wounded man on the ground implores him, explains that he is only a civilian. They shout at him to shut up.

“Are you the pigs who killed our brothers?”the voice asks again. The men are ordered to show their papers. One of them is from Salquin, a town in Iblid governorate, populated by Sunni Arabs. He is allowed to get in his car and drive away. The video ends there.

Since the fall of the regime on December 8, Alawite civilians have said they fear indiscriminate revenge from the rebels, some of whom, from the al-Nusra front, had already attacked their community at the start of the civil war.

While it is true that the Alawite elite benefited greatly from Assad's rule – she was notably over-represented in the army – Most civilians remained terrified in the face of a regime that voluntarily kept them in great poverty. “If you want your dog to guard your flock, don’t feed him too much.”said Hafez al-Assad.

The new authorities say today that they want to protect the country's various ethnic and religious minorities. They will very quickly have to show that they are not being overwhelmed.