Suwayda Trade Unions Urge UN to Establish Humanitarian Corridors, Free Press Access, and War Crimes Trials

SUWAYDA, SYRIA — The Federation of Trade Unions and Professional Associations in Suwayda has issued an urgent appeal to the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, the European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other relevant international human rights bodies. 

In its statement, the Federation underscored the grave humanitarian situation in Suwayda Governorate and condemned the severe violations perpetrated against its inhabitants. It noted that, as of July 15, Suwayda has been officially designated a disaster-stricken area, following sustained assaults by units of the Syrian Public Security forces, the Ministry of Defense, auxiliary formations aligned with the so-called “Tribal Army,” and affiliated armed groups which it described as terrorist in nature.

According to the statement, these forces are accused of committing acts tantamount to genocide, including the systematic looting, destruction, and burning of more than 32 villages. 

These areas, the Federation asserts, remain under the control of Daramsuq (Damascus) authorities, who continue to bar displaced residents from returning to their homes and forbid the retrieval and dignified burial of the victims’ remains. According to the Federation, activists have documented more than 1,500 fatalities to date, with search efforts ongoing to recover additional bodies and account for the missing. 

The statement emphasizes that the overwhelming majority of victims were unarmed civilians—including women, children, and the elderly—many of whom were subjected to degrading treatment and extrajudicial executions. In several documented cases, individuals were killed while incapacitated or otherwise unable to move. 

Furthermore, the Federation draws attention to the comprehensive siege imposed on Suwayda, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. This blockade has deprived the Suwayda Governorate of essential resources, including potable water, electricity, telecommunications, internet access, food, and vital medical supplies. 

The statement further notes that the healthcare sector in Suwayda has suffered a complete collapse. The Federation accuses the “de facto authority” and its sectarian armed militias of deliberately enforcing the blockade as a means to subjugate the population and erode its will. It asserts that these actions are carried out with the tacit endorsement of regime loyalists who openly support the extermination and forced displacement of Suwayda’s residents, portraying them as expendable within the framework of a so-called “Salafist jihadist state.” 

The Federation urgently calls upon the international community to undertake the following measures without delay: 

1. Lift the siege on Suwayda Governorate immediately.
2. Provide international protection to guarantee the withdrawal of government forces and affiliated militias from the governorate until the threat to its population has been neutralized.
3. Address the acute humanitarian crisis by opening humanitarian corridors under international supervision, ensuring the safe delivery of aid and preventing acts of looting.
4. Establish a neutral international commission of inquiry to investigate all crimes committed against civilians, determine the fate of those forcibly disappeared, and hold Damascus authorities fully accountable for their safety.
5. Officially designate Suwayda as a disaster zone based on the conclusions of the international investigation and refer all individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity to the appropriate international judicial bodies.
6. Guarantee access to independent and impartial media to document and report the reality on the ground with full transparency. 

Finally, the Federation calls for international recognition of the inherent right of the people of Suwayda to self-determination, including support for the organization of a United Nations-supervised referendum to decide their political future.  

It further urges the provision of political, legal, and humanitarian assistance to enable the residents of Suwayda to reconstruct and strengthen their civil administration on the foundations of justice, equality, and the rule of law.