Documents Discovered from Assad's Regime; From Orders for Fake Bombings to Executions in the Name of 'Martyrdom'

Some confidential and security documents that opponents of Bashar al-Assad's regime claim to have obtained after its fall indicate that the regime itself was behind several bombings and terrorist events in Syria. These documents, published by some Arab media including Al Arabiya and Al Hurra, mention that these actions were aimed at 'convincing domestic and foreign public opinion of the activities of armed terrorist groups.' Radio Farda is unable to independently verify these documents. Following the sudden fall of the ruling regime in Syria and the flight of Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president of the country, to Russia, many heads of security and intelligence agencies also fled the country, but a large number of intelligence and security documents were left behind, shedding light on some aspects of Bashar al-Assad's domestic and foreign policies. One completely classified document dated May 8, 2012, belonging to the Syrian foreign intelligence agency, relates to an order for a bombing in the 'Qazzaz' area on the outskirts of Damascus aimed at 'convincing domestic and foreign public opinion of the activities of armed terrorist groups.' This document calls for carrying out 'a suicide bombing using a vehicle containing a large amount of explosives during peak crowd times' and 'delaying the arrival of media representatives at the scene to prevent the discovery of the artificial nature of this explosion.' Despite Bashar al-Assad being from the Alawite sect, which is considered a minority in Syria, these documents show that this sect, like other segments of Syrian society, has been a victim of the policies of the previous regime. Another document, which Al Hurra television has reported on, indicates the issuance of an order for the 'execution of two thousand and four hundred and fifty-nine' Alawite soldiers. According to this document, this action should be carried out in such a way that their families are told 'they were martyred in the battlefields.' Based on this document, the reason for the execution of these Alawite soldiers was disobedience to commanders' orders. Another document dated March 1, 2015, indicates the issuance of an order for the arrest of one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six Alawite soldiers, and this action should also be carried out in such a way that their families are told they were 'abducted.' One of the cases that the documents left behind by Assad's intelligence and security agency reveal is that the Syrian intelligence agency was behind the assassination of 'Sariyah Hassoun,' the son of Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the former Mufti of the country. Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun was a supporter of Bashar al-Assad, but the published document shows that the special missions section in the Air Force Intelligence Directorate 291 had tasked a colonel named 'Suhail Hassan' with assassinating Hassoun's son on September 29, 2011, using a civilian vehicle. After this incident, Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun gave an influential speech on 'the crimes of the opposition,' stating that his son was killed 'only because of his father's support for the ruling regime.' Aside from domestic policy and foreign relations, some of the published documents also relate to the extravagant spending of the Assad family, while his government continuously claimed that U.S. and European sanctions against Syria disrupted the daily lives of the country's citizens. One of these documents shows the daily expenses of Maher Assad, the brother of the ousted Syrian president, which includes various costs, including hefty payments to a Russian individual responsible for teaching horseback riding to 'Sham,' Maher Assad's daughter. Meanwhile, the British newspaper Times has revealed an archive containing 1.3 million official documents titled 'Organized Crimes of Bashar al-Assad's Regime, the Ousted President of Syria.' According to this report, this archive was collected by Bill Wiley, a Canadian lawyer and researcher, with the help of a Syrian group and could play a 'central role in achieving justice and punishing those responsible for organized crimes in Syria - the full dimensions of which have yet to be discovered and clarified.' The Times adds that these documents were secretly transferred from inside Syria to a European city over the past years for digital photography. According to this report, the group involved in transferring the documents from Syria consisted of 43 people who smuggled and transferred the documents through various means under the guise of shepherds and merchants.