section_path: Responses/Supranational/Human rights groups
section_name: Human rights groups
paragraph_text: Human rights groups
  
  On 10 March, Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East and North Africa director Adam Coogle lamented the onset of the sectarian murders despite the fact that "Syria's new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past". He stated that no peace and stability in Syria would last if the government did not hold accountable every individual who committed human rights abuses, no matter their background or current allegiance.
  
  On 10 March, MENA Regional Director of Amnesty International Heba Morayef demanded that the Syrian government immediately act to stop extrajudicial killings and other acts of injustice against citizens, bemoaning that Syrian communities "once again are being forced to endure unimaginable loss" through the repetition of "past cycles of atrocities". She emphasized that the Syrian government's failure to immediately act and carry out effective investigations without bias or favoritism would invigorate further acts of violence by parties with impunity. She believed that there would be no reason for Syrian civilians to trust any findings of the government if the process was not fully transparent or not conducted with independent international organizations. She stated that President al-Sharaa's words vowing justice against perpetrators would mean little without the participation of victims, an upholding of equal human rights for all communities, and for making sure that "never again really means never again". In a separate statement dated 3 April 2025, the organization stated that it had investigated 32 of the killings and concluded that they were deliberate, targeted at the Alawite minority sect, and unlawful. The organization added that such deliberate killings constitute war crimes and urged the Syrian government to ensure prompt, independent, and effective investigations, hold perpetrators accountable, and end discriminatory targeting based on sect.
  
  On 10 March, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor released a statement saying the arbitrary arrest campaigns leading to extra-judicial executions and torture by Syrian government forces had no justifiable excuse. The organization said that the crimes driven by revenge were not justice, and instead "fuel for an endless cycle of violence" requiring reconciliation and transitional justice in addition to legal accountability to ensure justice and the prevention of future crimes.
  
  The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued an alert on 12 March about the risk of genocide that the violence could lead to.