The identities of the 586 people involved in the massacres on Syria's coast in March are being withheld to prevent further sectarian violence, according to the spokesperson of the country’s National Commission of Inquiry.
In an interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Yasser al-Farhan said that the identities of those involved in the killings in Latakia and Tartous will not be made public before verdicts are given because of the risk of further sectarian violence and revenge attacks.
He added that withholding the identities from public knowledge is also being done to prevent any evasion of justice.
In July, the commission revealed that the names of 298 people accused of carrying out attacks against civilians, and 265 people accused of attacking government forces, had been sent to Syria's judicial authorities.
The massacres on Syria's coasts, which began after remnant fighters of the Assad regime attacked government forces in Latakia and Tartous, saw over 1,400 killed, and hundreds of Alawites being targeted by government-aligned forces.
In the interview, Al-Farhan also said that the committee recorded over 900 testimonies, including from victims, detainees, witnesses, and members of the government and armed forces, and that part of the documentation of the events was being carried out by Alawite women who acted as representatives of the victims' community.
He added that the judicial authorities are reviewing the files and have begun making arrests and carrying out investigations into the perpetrators.
Al-Farhan's comments come amid bouts of sectarian violence following the ouster of the Assad regime, with clashes between government-aligned forces, tribal fighters, and Druze militia in Syria’s southern province of Suweida in July seeing the widespread killing of civilians.
Likewise, a recent joint report by Human Rights Watch, Syrians for Truth and Justice, and Syrian Archive, accused the government of a lack of transparency when investigating whether senior military and civilian leaders were involved in the coastal massacres.
The report found that as massacres became public, the Defence Ministry continued to deploy forces to the coast, and that investigations should be made on institutional failures and responsibility in the massacres.
"The question is not just who gave the orders, or if they did, it is why no one in charge could curb the widespread killings and lootings. That is a failure of leadership and a failure of will," Bassam al-Ahmed, executive director at Syrians for Truth and Justice, said.
Addressing the report, Al-Farhan said that the committee had found that senior leaders were not involved in the violence, but had attempted to prevent the massacres, and had since opened investigations to hold those involved to account.
A UN commission investigating the events also found no evidence that the central government had directed the massacres.