Erich Vontobel called on the U.S. to support the Swiss Peace Initiative. csi
The plight of religious minorities in the “new Syria” is a continuing concern following massacres of Alawites and then Druze under the interim government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. On July 1, CSI held a side event devoted to the topic at the UN Human Rights Council. The European Centre for Law and Justice co-sponsored the event, which is available to watch as a recorded livestream video. Syria experts Professor Joshua Landis from the University of Oklahoma and Professor Fabrice Balanche from the University of Lyon-2 in France were the guest speakers.
The violence carried out by the new Islamist authorities over recent months was “indiscriminate,” Balanche said. “They killed women, children, elderly. Young men were the main targets.”
Landis commented that Article III of Syria’s new constitution claims that the state respects “all divine religions”. This is a term that excludes the Alawites, Ismailis, and Druze from protection. Although Christians had so far been spared by the violence they were “subject to increasing Islamization,” Balanche said.
The message from both experts was clear: the lives of religious minorities are at imminent risk under the new regime.
Suwayda the scene of a fresh massacre
Sadly, events just two weeks later were to prove them right. From July 14 to 18 Syrian government forces carried out atrocities against minority populations after occupying Suwayda province, a majority-Druze region in the south.
Videos circulating on social media show pro-government fighters forcing Druze men to jump off a balcony and then shooting them as they jumped. It was also reported that an evangelical pastor and his entire family had been murdered.
According to estimates, over 1,300 people, including government troops, Druze militia fighters, Druze civilians and Sunni Muslim civilians were killed over the course of the week. In addition, 128,000 were displaced, before Israeli airstrikes forced government troops to retreat.
Swiss Peace Initiative presented in Washington
On July 8, members of the Swiss parliament visited Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to present their plan for a peace forum to negotiate the safe return of Armenian Christians to their homeland. At a congressional briefing hosted by CSI, parliamentarians Erich Vontobel and Lukas Reimann spoke about the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh and the opportunity it presents for the United States to help establish lasting peace in the South Caucasus, after 37 years of war.
Also present were John Eibner, president of Christian Solidarity International, and Vartan Oskanian, the former foreign minister of Armenia.
“Does the U.S. believe that a favorable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus – a region of growing geopolitical and economic significance – can be built on the basis of ethno-religious cleansing?” Eibner asked the assembled group. “If the answer is no, then the U.S. should provide support for Switzerland’s peace initiative.”
Vontobel noted that in the 2024 election campaign, “President Trump promised to end the ethnic cleansing of Christians” in Nagorno Karabakh. “Our interests and values align. The Swiss Peace Initiative offers the U.S. a chance to support peace without taking on direct risk,” Vontobel said.
“What we need now is broad international support – above all from the U.S. I therefore ask you to publicly endorse the Swiss Peace Initiative.”
Meanwhile the Peace Initiative has also garnered support in the United Kingdom, including from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion and a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
Nigerian partner abducted by Boko Haram
The dangerous reality of the work of CSI’s local partners was highlighted by the abduction of Catholic priest Daniel Alphonsus Afina while traveling in northeastern Nigeria, a center of the Islamist insurgency. CSI issued a press release on July 10 calling on the Nigerian government to secure his release.
As CSI’s Joel Veldkamp told Billy Hallowell of CBN News, at least 15 members of the clergy have been abducted this year alone in Nigeria, considered the most deadly country in the world for Christians.
The motivations behind these kidnappings vary significantly, Veldkamp said. “Sometimes they want ransom money, and other times they abduct them in order to kill them and terrorize the Christian community.”
In this case the motive was unclear. But thankfully, on July 21, Father Afina was released after 51 days’ captivity.
“We are overjoyed by the news of Father Alphonsus’ release,” Veldkamp said. “Our prayers are with him as he recovers from this trial.”
