Summary

Mass graves uncovered in Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow reveal evidence of systematic atrocities, with over 100,000 people tortured and killed in what a top war crimes prosecutor described as the worst abuses “since the Nazis.”

Assad’s regime operated a “machinery of death,” involving mass disappearances, torture, and secret burials.

Rebel forces freed thousands of political prisoners, but many remain missing.

International efforts aim to document war crimes, though Assad, now in Russia, is unlikely to face trial.

  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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    22 hours ago

    Really? Nothing else since WWII has been this bad? I can think of three off the top of my head! Syria’s neighbor is doing a holocaust right now. It’s like they’re pretending that nothing bad has happened since the Nazis were defeated.

    • wewbull@feddit.uk
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      54 minutes ago

      I don’t think we need to play Topp Trumps Genocide Edition. Can we just agree that it’s horrific what Assad (and by extension, Putin) have been doing in Syria?

    • Reyali@lemm.ee
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      1 hour ago

      You’re angry about a headline that abbreviates the actual story.

      The very first paragraph of the article:

      Mass graves uncovered in Syria in the days since President Bashar al-Assad wasoverthrown are exposing evidence of some of the worst abuses since the Nazis, a top international war crimes prosecutor said. [emphasis mine]

      The article agrees with you. It’s only the headline that doesn’t.

      This kind of anger and engagement at headlines is exactly what the media thrives off of. Don’t let them win by doing just that.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        1 hour ago

        They win by getting you to click on the article. 🙄

        They don’t get to smuggle lies into headlines and then clarify in the article. They should be held accountable for that kind of click bait.

    • DankOfAmerica@reddthat.com
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      3 hours ago

      The Cambodian Genocide

      The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly 25% of Cambodia’s population in 1975 (c. 7.8 million) reducing the nation’s life expectancy to a staggering 12 years in 1975.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        2 hours ago

        I must not! I’m pretty sure “worst since the Nazis” means " nothing between now and then was worse". As far as I was aware, worst means worse than everything else.

        Worse than Indonesia. Cambodia. Algeria. Iraq. Korea. Vietnam. Yugoslavia. Evidently no atrocities have happened since WWII! 🙄

        • john89@lemmy.ca
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          2 hours ago

          It’s like they’re pretending that nothing bad has happened since the Nazis were defeated.

          That’s different from saying you think worse things happened.

          Might want to brush up on your reading comprehension, buddy.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            2 hours ago

            If something is “the worst” then nothing worse happened, ergo, they’re pretending that all the other worse things didn’t happen. Evidently, the million people that were killed in Iraq and Indonesia just aren’t as important.

            • john89@lemmy.ca
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              1 hour ago

              If something is “the worst” then nothing worse happened

              Yes. That’s different from “nothing bad has happened.”

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        3 hours ago

        The official toll isn’t over 100,000 (can’t count people under the rubble) but estimates put it over 100,000 i.e. same order of magnitude. Gaza being smaller just makes these estimates even more horrifying.

        But also, not just talking about Gaza. Lots of other atrocities have lead to mass death on this scale and larger.

    • perestroika@lemm.ee
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      5 hours ago

      It’s going to take some time (and digging) to find out.

      However… events that unfolded in Cambodia will almost certainly have exceeded what is going to be discovered in Syria.

      Most likely the same can be said about things that happened in Indonesia.

      Events that continue to happen in North Korea may possibly exceed - once the place collapses and access becomes possible - which may take a century - what Bashar and his father managed to organize.

    • Hubi@feddit.org
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      21 hours ago

      There are 100.000 bodies in a single mass grave. And that is just one out of five. That’s kinda in a league of its own.

            • blazeknave@lemmy.world
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              16 hours ago

              Stop. Let the people of Syria be recognized for the horrors they lived through. Wtf is wrong with you?

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                14 hours ago

                I will not allow Palestinians to be erased! Or any of the other mass murders of over 100,000 people! This disrespects every atrocity that has happened since the end of WWII, by saying those ones either aren’t real or don’t count.

                • teije9
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                  8 hours ago

                  so because theres already a genocide no other genocides can exist? Yes, the Palestina genocide is bad, but that doesn’t mean posting about any other genocide is hate towards Palestinians.

                  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                    3 hours ago

                    You don’t get to say “the worst since WWII” when there were other genocides that compared or were worse since WWII. It’s erasing history.

                    “Worst” is what I’m taking issue with.

    • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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      21 hours ago

      You mean the country that is claiming Syrian sovereign space like the Golan Heights for their illegal settlements since the 90s?

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      How “whatabout” that.

      Stop trying to shove this news under the carpet with your “I know worse but I won’t tell you!!1!”

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        18 hours ago

        I’m trying to point out that history didn’t start and end in WWII, and pointing to something just as bad happening right now.

        • Valmond@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          Oh, I didn’t see that you’re an “ml”

          Whatever works in your fantasy world and makes you happy 🤷🏼‍♀️

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            3 hours ago

            I expect nothing less from reddit.world 🙄

            Do you really think 100,000 people haven’t been killed in any since conflict since WWII? Cuz that’s the implication.