Syrian private airport plans spark outcry over mass graves, land rights

Syrian government plans to convert Mezzeh military airport in Damascus into a private jet hub are drawing criticism from rights groups and residents. The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) has raised concerns that the redevelopment could disturb suspected mass graves within the airport grounds, where over 1,150 detainees reportedly died from torture, mistreatment, or execution under the Assad regime. SJAC provided coordinates of two suspected grave sites to Syria's National Commission for Missing Persons, urging investigation before construction.

• Documents obtained by SJAC indicate that senior Syrian military officials approved Mezzeh in 2012 as an execution site for detainees.
• Residents are also protesting decades-old land expropriations, as the airport was built on land belonging to hundreds of private citizens without compensation.
• Amer Matar, founder of the Syria Prisons Museum, stated, "To construct a business airport on a site that may contain mass graves, without a thorough prior investigation, without site protection, without searching for the missing and their remains, and without preserving evidence, is an act of extreme recklessness and disregard."