Activists documented an incident of grave vandalism affecting graves belonging to members of the Alawite sect in the city of Masyaf in the countryside of Hama Governorate in western Syria, dated 21 December 2025. The circulated images showed the smashing of a number of gravestones inside a cemetery belonging to the Alawite sect in the city, including the gravestone of a young girl, which sparked widespread discontent in local circles.
On 18 December 2025, a similar incident was recorded, in which an attack was reported involving the smashing and breaking of a number of gravestones inside the Tal Sikin al-Qa‘ada cemetery located in the western countryside of Hama Governorate. According to the available information, the attack targeted burial sites of civilians from the Alawite sect, in an act considered a violation of the sanctity of cemeteries and a direct assault on human dignity after death, as well as on the sanctity of burial places that enjoy social and religious protection.
The identity of the perpetrators or the individuals responsible has not been definitively established; however, this attack comes within the context of similar incidents attributed to unknown groups of a takfiri nature, which have targeted cemeteries belonging to different religious components.
This incident falls within a general context characterized by sectarian and religious tensions and intersects with a recurring pattern of violations affecting cemeteries and burial places in several areas of Syria. During the same period, incidents of vandalism targeting cemeteries belonging to members of the Shiite sect were recorded, including what occurred in the village of al-Hazmiyah in the northern countryside of Homs on 16 December 2025, where gravestones were smashed and some graves were exhumed, in incidents documented by video footage.
Targeting cemeteries in this context is viewed as an act carrying a sectarian dimension, aiming to spread religious hatred and incite discord through attacking symbols of the religious identity of the targeted groups, including violating the sanctity of their dead.
The vandalism of cemeteries and the smashing of gravestones constitutes a violation of freedom of religious belief and an assault on human dignity after death, particularly when the attack targets the cemeteries of a specific religious group, placing these acts within the framework of discrimination on religious grounds and classifying them as human rights violations and prohibited hate crimes under relevant international laws.
