Syria’s Mass Graves Reveal a “Machinery of Death,” Says War Crimes Prosecutor

Evidence from mass grave sites in Syria has unveiled a state-run system of systematic killings under former President Bashar al-Assad, responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 individuals through torture and executions since 2013, according to international war crimes prosecutor Stephen Rapp.

Rapp, a former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes and an experienced prosecutor from tribunals in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, visited mass grave sites in Qutayfah and Najha, near Damascus. He described the atrocities as unparalleled since the Nazi era.

“We have more than 100,000 people who were disappeared and tortured to death in this machine,” Rapp told Reuters. “This was a machinery of death involving thousands, from secret police who abducted individuals to bulldozer drivers who buried their bodies.”

The systematic killing was part of a broader campaign of state terror under Assad, whose regime has long been accused of extrajudicial executions, the use of chemical weapons, and other human rights violations.

Mass Graves and Missing Persons

The Syrian Emergency Task Force estimates over 100,000 bodies are buried at the Qutayfah site alone. Additionally, the International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague has identified data suggesting as many as 66 mass grave sites across Syria, with over 157,000 individuals reported missing.

The search for justice is fraught with challenges. DNA analysis of skeletal remains requires samples from at least three relatives, complicating efforts to identify victims. International bodies have called for the preservation of mass grave sites as evidence for potential war crimes trials.

Eyewitness Accounts of State-Orchestrated Burials

Residents near the Najha cemetery, formerly a military base, described witnessing refrigeration trucks delivering bodies to long trenches dug by bulldozers. “Anyone who approached the site risked being buried with the victims,” said one farmer who lives near the cemetery.

Satellite imagery analyzed by Reuters corroborates these accounts, showing extensive digging between 2012 and 2022.

Grave Digger Testimonies

Key testimonies from a former cemetery worker, referred to as “the grave digger,” have shed light on the systematic disposal of corpses. In German court trials and U.S. congressional hearings, the grave digger detailed his work transporting hundreds of bodies weekly from military hospitals to mass grave sites.

“Every week, three trucks packed with 300 to 600 bodies arrived—victims of torture, starvation, and execution,” he said. This process reportedly continued for years until he fled to Europe in 2018, where he has testified under anonymity.

A System of State Terror

Assad’s regime has consistently denied accusations of human rights abuses, labeling detractors as extremists. However, human rights groups and international bodies have long held the government responsible for mass killings, chemical weapon use, and other crimes against humanity.

As efforts to document these crimes progress, advocates stress the importance of accountability. “These atrocities demand justice,” said Rapp. “This machinery of death cannot go unpunished.”

For survivors and the families of the disappeared, the journey to truth and justice will be long, but the revelations from Syria’s mass graves underscore the urgency of addressing these crimes on an international scale.