THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

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The End?

At-Treimh is a very small village whose population is less than eleven thousand people.  It is 11km to the west of Mhardeh city, in the Hama governorate.

**WARNING: VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Victims of the At-Treimseh massacre.

Statements provided by At-Treimseh residents state that at dawn, on Thursday 12 July 2012 around 4:00 am, At-Treimseh village was fully besieged by military forces that came from the neighboring city of Mhardeh.  These forces were followed by huge reinforcements that came from Hama’s military airport.  Residents estimated this force to be roughly 200 military vehicles.  It included tanks, armored vehicles, Shilka tanks, Zil cars, transport buses, 4x4s, and pick-ups.  They were accompanied by army infantry troops transported in roughly 25 Zil cars.  Additionally, militants traveling in white buses and pick-ups were present.  They were armed with assault rifles and wearing civilian clothes.

This military force fully besieged the village.  Eyewitnesses stated that shelling from all directions started between 4 and 5 a.m.; shelling from the tanks and aerial bombardment by 3 helicopters continuously occurred for roughly 4 hours.  Eyewitnesses affirmed that they saw a fourth warplane that did not shell the village; they say that most likely it was a drone conducting monitoring and scouting.

Local residents stated that at the start of the shelling, locals tried to flee the village and sought refuge in the neighboring villages.  However, shelling and sieges on the neighboring villages hindered attempts to flee.  Residents also stated that some locals were killed by army troops when they fled the shelling.  Abou Assa’ad, an eyewitness, stated that Yusuf Al-Ubaid, a roughly 68 year old man, fled the shelling but was killed by gunfire at the northern outskirts of the village in Al-Smaira.

The same source stated that two citizens from Kafr Houd village: 40 year-old Waheed Adul Salam Qattash, Imam and Sheikh of a mosque in At-Treimseh, and his 17 years old son, Taha Qattash, were killed as they tried to flee At-Treimseh and find safety in a village nearby.  Army troops deployed at the road to Kafr Houd, east of the village, stopped them and killed them with gunfire.  The checkpoint troops then tied the father’s body to a military vehicle and dragged it in the road before throwing it in Abou Musaab Al-Hasnou’s home and burning the structure down.

Eyewitnesses say residents sought refuge at schools and mosques of the village even though it was well known that the most likely scenario was that no safe zone existed in the entire village.  Instead, they gathered in these buildings seeking the stronger protection that they offered from the shelling.  Army troops targeted those schools and mosques, killing and wounding large numbers of people.

Residents remember that shelling was concentrated on schools and mosques and their surrounding areas for more than an hour. Then it moved to the outskirts of the village.

Assad’s forces shelled the village, and its outskirts, for 3 to 4 hours.  Then armed vehicles and tanks stormed into the village.  They battled with members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), made up of army defectors in the village, some who were officers.  Some civilians also battled with Assad’s forces in defense of their village, life, women, and children.  Many did so with the knowledge that the regime’s army in previous massacres had eliminated all opposition, both FSA and civilian.

Assad’s regime army forced men and children out of homes, using them as human shileds as they searched for opposition.  Abou Assa’ad stated that army troops forced the young men of the village to walk in front of the regime’s army, and that a soldier killed two of them with an assault rifle; the two victims were Mukhlis Al-Faris, he was only 26 years old, and Mousaab Boulad.

Abou Assa’ad said that the deaths occurred because two soldiers argued, one was angry over the use of unarmed civilians as human shields, the other then killed the two.  Next orders to stop arguing, from an older soldier, came from behind and they abided by the orders.

Ibrahim Al-Hamdwi said that two civilian who defended the village with weapons were killed when they surrendered as they ran out of ammunition.  Army troops arrested, beat, tortured, and ultimately killed them with gunfire.  The two victims were Salih Hussein Al-Saba’awi, 36 years old, and Yahya Sail Al-Hwayan, 25 years old.

Military operation on the village went on till about 7:00 in the evening.  Once the regime army left residents went to check the village.  They were shocked by the mass destruction inflicted on the homes and buildings as well as the number of the casualties and wounded they found.  Abou Ahmad stated that he found a lot of bodies and that he knows at least 70 bodies were buried.  This included 40 women who were placed in a mass grave.  He said that this was only during the day, that night even more bodies were found and buried.  By Friday, fifteen other bodies were found in Orontes River and different irrigation canals throughout the area.  Abou Ahmad adds that many bodies were buried in the first two days without any identifications made because they were so far burned it was impossible to identify them.

Abou Assa’ad affirmed the statement made by Abou Ahmad and added that four other bodies were found in farms and orchards surrounding the village on Saturday, 14 July 2012.

Abou Assa’ad said that 15 bodies were found in Ghazi Al-Shammouti’s house on the first day; those bodies have not been identified as most are completely burned out.  He stated that he has saw a body belonging to a woman, hugging two other bodies of completely burned children.  Residents were not able to identify the bodies due the fact that many separate families all gathered together in one home as the attack began.

However, Abou Assa’ad was able to identify one body, among many that were completely burned.  The body was that of his relative, who was transporting the wounded to a home being used as a makeshift hospital.  The home was besieged by regime army troops who opened fire at all the people inside.  They then burned the bodies.

The burial of some of the bodies.

Residents and witnesses assert that more than 100 unidentified bodies, including 40 completely burned corpses, have been buried so far.  Residents reported that they have not been able to identify the exact number of victims because army forces abducted some of the bodies.  Abu Ahmad, an eyewitness, confirmed seeing ambulances and civilian cars collecting the bodies and taking them away.  This same story was told by Abu Assa’ad, who added that he saw two small white Toyota trucks assisting with this.  In the rear trunk of one of the trucks, he saw around 35 bodies and in the other roughly 40.  Abu Assa’ad saw the trucks leave with the army when it pulled out.

Eyewitnesses also confirmed that a large number of people have gone missing and they do not know whether they have been killed or arrested.  The residents estimated the number of those missing at more than 200 people.  The huge exodus from the village after the assault, combined with the communications cut-off in the following days, made it hard to accurately identify the number of missing.  Residents estimated the number of those injured due to the shelling between 300 and 400 people.

Residents and eyewitnesses were surprised to see Dr. Mohammad Satouf on Syrian TV on 15 July 2012 as he disappeared during the army raid on the village. When he appeared on Syrian TV, he acknowledged cooperation with terrorist gangs in the village.  Abu Ahmad, Abu Assa’ad, and Ibrahim al-Hamwi all said that there were no such gangs in the village.  The only armed people, according to them, were the defectors from the army and some of the village’s young men who joined the ranks of the Free Syrian Army as volunteers.  The eye witnesses confirmed that Dr. Satouf enjoyed a good reputation and was known for his good manners.  His contribution to the popular uprising in Syria, in which his village At-Tremseh took part, was early on and he was restricted to providing medical care for those wounded in the protests.

Witnesses say that the number of armed people killed during the army raid and who could be identified was no more than ten.  The fate of the rest of the group remains unknown, it is unclear whether they were killed and their bodies abducted, or arrested, or were able to flee the village.

It is noted that security and army forces prevented international observers from entering the village on Thursday to investigate the facts on the ground.  The investigators were only able to gain access to the village 13 hours after the army fully pulled out of the town.

Walking through the town, documenting the aftermath of the destruction.

Media reports and stories related to the massacre stated more than 250 victims were killed, however, SNHR & DCHRS have not been able to document and verify the names and identities of all the victims for the following reasons:

1.) About one hundred and twenty victims have been buried, residents were not able to identify forty of these because they were completely burned.

2.) Security forces and army troops abducted a large number of the bodies.  They have not returned the bodies to victims’ families.

3.) Large numbers of citizens have gone missing and the Syrian regime authorities have not confirmed the death or detention of them to their families.

4.) The Syrian regime’s refusal to conduct a credible, objective and transparent investigation into the crimes perpetrated on Thursday in Ar-Treimseh, the regime’s refusal to allow access for any other party to conduct an investigation, and the denial of access to the village to independent media outlets means that no objective reality has emerged.

All information and videos in this report provide by:

Syrian Network for Human Rights

Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria