A mass grave containing the bodies of 55 men and women has been discovered in the village of Mazra’et Al-Raheb southeast of Aleppo in Syria, local sources have told The New Arab.
The Syrian National Commission for the Missing announced that it had begun procedures to verify reports regarding the site.
In a statement, it said that it is “closely following what is circulating on social media, including video clips that reportedly document the presence of a mass grave in the al-Safira area of Aleppo’s countryside”.
It also said that it had sent teams to the mass grave to assess and secure it, in coordination with local authorities.
The commission added that any site “suspected to be linked to cases of disappearance or the presence of human remains is considered a location of special humanitarian and legal sensitivity, requiring careful handling to ensure the dignity of the victims, protect the rights of their families to know the truth, preserve evidence, and prevent tampering.”
It called on local residents to avoid approaching the site or interfering with it and refrain from sharing unverified information, saying this could negative impact the integrity of procedures and the rights of victims and their families.
The Local authority in the Al-Safira area, where Mazra’et Al-Raheb is located, said in a separate statement that other mass graves had previously been found in the area, particularly along the Al-Safira-Khanasser road.
“Since 2013, the road witnessed executions and killings carried out by the former regime [of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad], affecting many residents of the villages along it. Victims were thrown into wells scattered throughout the area, either after being executed or while still alive,” the statement added.
It said that these incidents were well-documented by local residents, and had been reviewed by opposition authorities before the fall of the Assad regime, including the Free Aleppo Governorate, with video of mass graves still available.
“The victims’ bodies are still inside the wells and have not yet been recovered, which necessitates accelerating the process of investigation and handling,” it added regarding the recently found mass grave, calling for “responsible engagement with this issue, in a way that preserves the dignity of the victims and paves the way for justice and accountability.”
The authority said that the current priority is to allow specialized committees to uncover the graves, recover the remains, and document them according to proper procedures, ensuring the rights of the victims and their families, “in a way that preserves the dignity of the victims and paves the way for justice and accountability.”
