Syrian Network for Human Rights & Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies At-Treimseh Massacre When Murderers Attempt to Hide the Truth
Verified and Comprehensive Account of the At-Treimseh Massacre from Survivors and Eyewitnesses
Date of Incident: 12 July 2012
Please note the following account is verified by survivors of and eyewitnesses to the At-Treimseh massacre.
On the morning of the twelfth of July, 2012, the village of At-Treimseh was surrounded from all sides in an ambush by regime forces, with no prior warning.
More than two hundred tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as at least three military helicopters, were then used by regime forces to shell homes in the village. A reconnaissance aircraft was also seen flying above the helicopters, performing surveillance. The deadly shelling did not spare anyone, and even residents visiting from neighbouring villages and towns could not attempt escape. Some of them attempted to run to schools and mosques to seek protection, but the only response of regime forces was intensifying the attacks on these centres, alternating between shelling them and the homes of the citizens. Survivors and eyewitnesses report that after the four hours of brutal shelling, the village’s homes, schools and mosques were subject to a raid by all the already-present military machinery, in addition to more than 25 tanker trucks carrying heavily armed soldiers, some in military clothing and some in plain clothing. These heavily armed forces used men and children as human shields as they went on a killing, looting, burning and assault raid that lasted until 7 P.M. Some defected officers who happened to be in the area attempted to intervene in defence of the unarmed civilians, but their light weaponry proved to be no match for the regime’s heavy artillery, and these ten officers were eventually among those killed.
After the regime’s army troops pulled out from the village, residents went out to public squares and homes to be shocked with utter destruction, bodies scattered in the streets, farms, homes, cars and even in the Orontes River. Numerous bodies were burned and disfigured, making identifying which almost impossible.
Many bodies were piled in homes because people gathered in a few homes, afraid of the shelling they fled. The death toll was high and escalating; about seventy victims were buried on Thursday night, forty in a mass grave. Then residents found different bodies scattered in streets, so they buried them also all at once. Many of the bodies were completely burned, so they had to be buried unidentified.
Residents of the village are finding more bodies in the agricultural lands, roads, water canals and Orontes River; they found more bodies on Friday. Eyewitnesses in the village stated that ambulances affiliated with the Al-Assad regime’s army had carried scores of residents’ bodies with them upon their retreat. In addition, Assad’s regime forces stole locals’ cars and transported more than forty bodies in them.
Residents affirmed the disappearance of more than two hundred citizens, locals, and the wounding of 300-400 others. The Al-Assad regime’s government was insistent on denying access into the village by the UN Inspections Team until at least thirteen hours had passed after their perpetration of this crime, in order to obliterate evidence of their horrible crime.
Documentations:
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: a Syrian citizen talks about the destruction of her house with a rocket, 13-07-2012
http://youtu.be/i3K0Ld_EXnQ
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh:
Testimony by a citizen from Al-Treimseh about the massacre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDP8JwKeFH4
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: Doctor/Paramedic: Faisal An-Naji, 13-07-2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq3ZWUBXGjY
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: Doctor/Paramedic: this victim had been brutally slaughtered, 13-07-2012, 18+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w_k–lM2ao
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: victims of the massacre, 13-07-2012, Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1ZkKHbw1I
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: victims of the massacre, 13-07-2012, Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHXDI2l62fA
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: burying the victims, 13-07-2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNmuSR6IPTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkrBQc-FAVA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wXm4jsKJHU
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: the arrival of the UN monitors with tanks, 14-07-2012
http://youtu.be/TT3BHykgBjs
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: aftermath of destruction, 14-07-2012, Part 1
http://youtu.be/Mj-90Oqiq4U
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: Burned homes, 14-07-2012
http://youtu.be/pMpzMW9ooNE
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: the shelling and the burning down of a school, 14-07-2012
http://youtu.be/_CLjEYyT6wI
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: aftermath of the massacre, 14-07-2012
http://youtu.be/vYJaEmubw2k
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: Residents’ testimonies, 14-07-2012, Part 1
http://youtu.be/KBL-vcD3ePw
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: aftermath of the destruction, 14-07-2012, part 2
http://youtu.be/oQQKYU9M1F0
Rural Hama, Al-Treimseh: Residents’ testimonies, 14-07-2012, Part 2
http://youtu.be/0PSbl2H9Q0Y
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) & the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) strongly condemn this massacre of historic proportion which amounts to a crime against humanity, as well as all other massacres perpetrated by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people around the clock. SNHR & DCHRS hold the Syrian regime and Bashar al-Assad, head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian regime’s army, completely and directly responsible for all of those massacres and their implications and consequences. SNHR and DCHRS call on the United Nations and the UN Security Council to swiftly take all necessary measures to protect civilians and fulfil their legal and moral responsibilities by accelerating the indictment of all those responsible for the perpetration of these massacres to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The documented victim list:
The following victims are the documented names which were identified by the citizens of the village. It is important to note once again that many victims were buried without verifying their names because their bodies were so burnt and disfigured they were past being identified. In addition, regime forces kidnapped dozens of bodies in ambulances. Citizens of At-Treimseh continue to search for more bodies of the missing in surrounding farms and ditches.
1- Ahmad Yahya Addullah, 17.
2- Ibn Muhammad Deeb Shuhab, 13.
3- Ghassan Adnan Al-Hawwash, 16.
4- Ahmad Khaled Al-‘Esaweyah, 12.
5- Hussein Ali Rabee’Al-Hawari, 13.
6- Mus’ab Khaled Al-Bulad, 26.
7- Saleh Hussein Assab’awi, 36, was amongst the defected soldiers who were trying to defend the civilians.
8- Munther Ibrahim Al-Ali Az’ait, 27.
9- Milad Abdul-Kareem Darweesh, 28.
10- Ahmad Mahmoud Addeleh, 55.
11- Yaheya Sayel Hwayyan, 25, a defected soldier who was executed immediately after he surrendered himself.
12- Hussein Al-Fiddah, 30.
13- Hameed Ayoub Al-Hameed, 26.
14- Mus’ab Muhammad Al-Hameed, 27.
15- Gheyath Hanthal, 27.
16- Muhannad Sattouf Al-Harmalani, 25.
17- Meelad Jehad Sattouf, 20.
18- Abdul-Kareem Sattouf, 40.
19- Munassef Faisal Annaji, 34, was wounded in the head, some doctors operated on him unsuccessfully.
20- Khaled Muhammad Al-Mheyah, 6.
21- Raed Abdur-Rahman Zwawi, 28.
22- Jawad Waleed Hasyan, 27.
23- Ahmad Hasyan, 27.
24- Mukhles Al-Fares, 26.
25- Nihad Seyar Annajm, 22.
26- Ahmad Abu Nazeeh, 27.
27- Ahmad Shehada Al-Buraqi.
28- Ahmad Hamdo Nwairan.
29- Ahmad Muhammad Matar, 26.
30- Jalal Ibrahim Mut’ab, 26.
31- Mahmoud Khaled Anna’es Al-Kharashi, 30.
32- Hussein Anna’es Al-Kharashi, 25.
33- Ali Deebo Al-hani.
34- Suhaib Muhammad Al-Waheed, 27.
35- Haytham Muhammad Assa’eed, 30.
36- Nader Saleem Hijazi, 40.
37- Hussein Khalfa Al-Umair, 26.
38- The wife of Farouq Al-Baqour, 46.
39- Khaled Ashaman, 36.
40- Naser Ashaman, 32.
41- Ali Ashaman, 23.
42- Yamen Al-Ghabash, 27.
43- Mustafa Al-Kurdi, 28.
44- Mahmoud Al-Khudarah, 35.
45- Mahmoud Al-Khudarah, 33.
46- Ahmad Waleed Addebu.
47- Ziad Al-Hanthal.
48- Muhammad Bakkour, 31.
49- Hatem Shehadah Al-Yunus.
50- Abdul-Kareem A-Ubaid, 60.
51- Gheyath Al-Hanthal, 27.
52- Hussein Hasano, 55.
53- Nawaf Annajm, 40.
54- Hussein Al-‘Askar, 52.
57- Muhammad Hijazi.
58- Muhannad Ali Addarweesh, 28.
59- Yamen Abdu-Sattar Ashibat, 30.
60- Waleed Abdu-Sattar Assabat, 27.
61- Rami Abdu-Sattar Ashabbat, 24.
62- Muhammad Fawzi Al-Hussein, 18.
63- Wasel Ghazwan Ann’san (Al-Ghathwan), from Deemo.
64- Umar Nimr Al-Hammoud, from Deemo, Hama.
65- Waheed Abdul-Salam Qattash, from Kafr Houd, Hama.
66- Mus’ab Al-Bulad.
67- Ahmad Hajjak, from Aqrab, Hama, defected sergeant.
68-71- Four victims killed from Deemo, their names have not been verified.
Syrian Network for Human Rights – London &
Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies – Syria
SNHR:
Website: www.syrianhr.org
Email: press@syrianhr.org
DCHRS:
Website: www.dchrs.org
Email: info@dchrs.org