A panel of UN experts denounced Thursday what they described as an outbreak of massacres, sexual violence and kidnappings targeting the Druze minority in southern Syria in the past month.
Fighting erupted in the Sweida region on July 13. Clashes between local Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces and volunteers from other parts of Syria.
Syria's new interim regime, which took over after the overthrow late last year of dictator Bashar al-Assad, said its forces had intervened to restore order. But they have also been accused of abuses.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said the violence killed around 1,600 people, many of them Druze civilians.
Protests have erupted since the deaths, with Druze pushing for the right to self-determination.
"The scale of violence reported –- including massacres, looting of homes, shops and livestock, and use of stolen phones for extortion -– points to a targeted campaign against the Druze minority," the panel of more than a dozen UN experts said Thursday.
The expert panel is made up of specialists in human rights and related disciplines.
It is mandated to report on the situation by the UN Human Rights Council, but does not speak in the name of the United Nations.
The report says "intense sectarian clashes triggered by looting and retaliations between Bedouin and Druze communities escalated into widespread violence involving local militias, Syrian interim authorities forces and affiliated armed groups."
The panel complained that hateful rhetoric spread online and in the Syrian media portrayed members of the Druze religious minority as traitors loyal to neighbouring Israel.
Some had called for Druze women to be abducted and enslaved.
"The experts pointed to the reported abduction of at least 105 Druze women and girls by armed groups affiliated with the Syrian interim authorities, with 80 still missing," the UN statement said.
"Some women who were released cannot return home due to safety fears. In at least three cases, Druze women were allegedly raped before being executed."
The panel urged the Syrian authorities to better protect all minority communities including the Druze, halt incitement to violence and uphold the safety of civilians, including special protections for women and girls.
AFP
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