Trapped Under HTS Rule: The Ongoing Human Rights Violations in Syria

 

Bullet point analysis shows that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as an Islamist militant faction from the Syrian civil war conducts human rights abuses towards civilians in areas they control. HTS maintains human rights violations despite its efforts to establish itself as a locally legitimate organization.

Extrajudicial Executions and Arbitrary Detentions

Since its foundation in 2012 Research shows HTS personnel have killed at least 505 civilians among which 71 children along with 77 female fatalities occurred. Summary and arbitrary trial courts led to the execution of 106 people in total. During 2023 HTS conducted 19 unlawful executions across Idlib province where two female victims were among the victims. The detained people suffered illegal secret detention because authorities barred them from getting legal protection and family visitation. Without sufficient clarity or honesty in the charges some executions became possible due to fabricated evidence thus breaking down both justice and fairness systems.

Torture and Inhumane Treatment

The detention centers run by HTS implement physical and psychological abuse as well as unacceptable treatment against prisoners. The recorded techniques of abuse within detention facilities involved physical mistreatment combined with psychological mistreatment as well as forced work duties. People in detention commonly experience extended uncharged detention while their lawyers are denied access to them and they become victims of enforced disappearance. Detentions occur without proper legal regulations which aggravates the ongoing breaches because arbitrary decisions are made without following established legal criteria.

Suppression of Civil Liberties

The HTS organization continuously restricts freedom in all areas it governs. HTS establishes campaigns against activists journalists and civilians who challenge their viewpoints by engaging in arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances. HTS tries to gain control of local councils and civil society organizations by either forced dissolution or takeover of those bodies which do not obey its fundamental beliefs. HTS resistance against civil society prevents communities from maintaining their such structures and blocks every oppositional force seeking to form alternative governing bodies.

Impact on Women and Children

HTS enforcement policies have created an environment where women along with children experience greater discrimination. As a means of control the group mandates strict uniform rules which keep women confined and prevents them from receiving education. Opposition to or breaking these established rules can result in police detention along with corresponding penalties. The militants forcibly convert young members of minority groups while recruiting them into military services thus taking away their innocence through exposure to war atrocities.

Obstruction of Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarian response teams operate under restrictions imposed by HTS as the group interferes with shipments by charging taxes and disrupting aid distribution at various stages. Humanitarian relief efforts are greatly obstructed by this practice thus it causes further misery to displaced people and vulnerable groups who lack basic necessities and support services. The organization pursues its goals by taking control over humanitarian aid delivery resulting in the use of assistance to benefit its own purposes while innocent people suffer deprivation.

International Condemnation and Call for Accountability

International organizations maintain ongoing critical statements about the human rights abuses committed by HTS. The Syrian Network for Human Rights together with Human Rights Watch have collected extensive evidence of violations which leads them to demand both accountability and civilian safety. The organization continues to exercise power without consequences as it conducts its operations leading to increased instability that causes deep suffering across the region.

Fundamental human rights protection demands immediate international action to address HTS’s continuous violations of civilians through extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions together with torture and civil rights suppression as well as interference with humanitarian aid.