Syrian inquiry finds most allegations of kidnapped Alawite women are false

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian government-led committee has found that most allegations of kidnapping of women from the Alawite religious minority were false, the findings of the monthslong probe released on Sunday show.

Syria's Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba announced the outcome of the inquiry into 42 allegations of women and girls during widespread violence in March along Syria's coastal provinces.

Al-Baba said the committee, which was set up in July, spoke to affected women and girls and concluded that only one case was a kidnapping.

“In the one confirmed kidnapping case, the girl was safely returned after security agencies investigated the matter,” Al-Baba told a news conference. “The search continues to identify the perpetrators.”

Amnesty International said in July it had received credible reports of several dozen Alawite women and girls being kidnapped across the provinces of Latakia, Tartus, Homs, and Hama.

The Syrian inquiry concluded that of the remaining 41 cases it examined, 12 involved women fleeing with romantic partners, nine were “temporary absences” with relatives or friends, six were instances of fleeing domestic violence, six were false allegations on social media, four were victims of extortion or prostitution, and four were perpetrators of criminal offenses who were apprehended by security agencies.

The violence began after armed groups aligned with former Syrian President Bashar Assad attacked government security forces. The counter-insurgency spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and massacres that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs.

The violence became one of many hurdles Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led rule has faced since coming to power and trying to bring back calm and economic recovery to the war-torn country.

“We urge citizens, civil society, and human rights organizations to first report any such incidents or suspicions to the Interior Ministry,” al-Baba said.