DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Crowds have gathered at a memorial tent in Damascus to pay respects to a former national chess champion and her family, whose deaths have been confirmed more than a decade after they vanished during Syria’s civil conflict.
Family members of Rania al-Abbasi revealed Sunday that they had obtained proof she and her family were murdered by government-aligned forces soon after being taken into custody in 2013. They established a large memorial tent in the capital on Tuesday and Wednesday for mourners to offer their condolences.
“We had hope. We’ve been looking for them for 13 years in every way possible,” Rana’s brother Wael al-Abbasi said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Then we got the horrible news that they were killed the same day they were arrested.”
The disappearance of Rana al-Abbasi, who worked as a dentist and faced allegations of supporting opposition forces, gained significant attention throughout Syria. This week’s discoveries have dominated local news coverage, with family photographs circulating widely on social platforms. Many citizens are calling for capital punishment for those responsible.
Mohammad Shukri, Syrian minister of religious affairs, paid a visit to the memorial tent in the Rukneddine neighborhood on Tuesday, stating that the nation’s new leadership is ensuring those responsible face justice. “They must get their punishment,” he said.
Over 100,000 individuals disappeared in territories once under the control of forces supporting former President Bashar Assad, who was recently removed from power, with many believed to have perished under torture administered by the nation’s extensive security apparatus. The actual figure may be even greater, as numerous Syrians were too frightened to file complaints during Assad’s rule. Assad is now living in exile in Russia, and some people are finally stepping forward seeking information about their missing relatives.
Throughout the initial phase of Syria’s uprising, which began with democratic demonstrations before evolving into full-scale civil war, countless people lost their lives, with many fates remaining unknown. The prolonged conflict resulted in the deaths of nearly half a million people.
The truth about the al-Abassi family emerged after authorities captured a former intelligence operative allegedly connected to the murders, according to surviving relatives. Amjad Yousef had been featured in footage that surfaced four years earlier, apparently depicting him and associates executing dozens of individuals during the nation’s civil strife.
The al-Abbasi family was presented with additional video evidence, kept from public view, displaying the children’s bodies after what appeared to be strangulation or fatal beatings.
Wael al-Abbasi explained that his brother-in-law, Abdul-Rahman al-Yassin, was taken into custody on March 9, 2013, while his spouse and children were detained four days afterward.
“We were holding on to hope to find one or two of the kids (alive),” he said.
Yousef, the former intelligence operative, was apprehended by Syria’s new government in April in the central province of Hama, where he had been in hiding. He has remained under interrogation since his capture.
Wael al-Abbasi described viewing footage where Yousef was speaking and directing the camera toward the children in a dim space that appeared to be within a detention facility.
“He was filming the kids and naming each one of them. Those were our kids, there was no room for doubt that it’s them, they were even wearing the same clothes,” he said.
The children ranged in age from 1 1/2 to 14 years old. They were identified as Ahmad, Dema, Najah, Intisar, Alaa and Layan. He noted that several of them showed signs of facial injuries.
The brother expressed his desire for Yousef and other participants in the killings to face trial and execution. “They’re criminals and we have proof of that through videos. We want the whole chain, all the way up to Bashar Assad. We want them all to hanged.”
Following Assad’s removal from power, multiple senior officials from his administration and security forces have been arrested, with some facing legal proceedings.
Al-Abbasi’s cousin, Doa’a al-Abbasi, mentioned that the family had feared the children might have been sold into trafficking, but they now understand what truly happened.
“What is this brutality? What is this hatred? They waited for them to come home from school so he can kill them,” she said, referring to the children. “There are many people like Amjad Yousef and we hope they will all be held accountable.”
