October 14, 2025

The Honorable Marco Rubio Secretary of State
United States Department of State 2201 C St NW
Washington, DC 20451

Re: Multi-Faith Letter Condemning Religious Violence in Syria 

Dear Secretary Rubio,

We, the undersigned members of diverse faith and advocacy groups, greatly appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to equal rights for Syrian religious minorities under the Syrian Transitional Government headed by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa. President Donald J. Trump highlighted this issue in his first meeting with Mr. Al-Sharaa, Vice President J.D. Vance emphasized this commitment in his rousing plenary address at the 2025 IRF Summit, and you said in March 2025: “The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities,” demanding accountability for violations of their rights.

In light of this, we feel compelled to express our grave concerns about increasing violence against these religious minorities, legal discrimination, and extremist policies. Serious changes must be made, or Syria could become an Islamist state that subjugates or drives out religious minorities or is divided by civil war. U.S. economic and national security interests in the success of Mr. Al-Sharaa’s government will best be served by changing this trajectory to create an inclusive, decentralized Syrian governmental system with equal rights based on citizenship, not faith or ethnicity. Our recommendations are strongly supported by Christian and other faith leaders in Syria.

Since March 2025, Alawite communities and Christians living in their midst in Idlib have faced brutal attacks resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths, displacement of hundreds of thousands, and destruction of homes and businesses. Atrocities, carried out by armed forces and irregular militias loyal to President Al-Sharaa, included executions of entire families and the ongoing abduction and abuse of women and girls (72 documented cases), with almost no accountability despite public documentation of the perpetrators’ identities.

Druze communities have been targeted, starting in Damascus in March 2025 and in Suwayda since mid-July. Full-scale government military attacks caused the deaths of over 1,600 Druze and Christians (including U.S. citizens), displacement of nearly half the Suwayda population, destruction of religious buildings, infrastructure, and hospitals, and an ongoing siege. Perpetrators documented mass killings and summary executions based on religious affiliation. Abductions of women and children as spoils of war were authorized by Sunni cleric’s religious fatwas. Israeli intervention alone prevented larger casualties.

Christians throughout Syria fear they will be the next target of mass atrocities. Since Mr. Al-Sharaa came to power, churches and individuals have faced widespread threats, attacks, and extortion. The shocking bombing of Mar Elias Church in June 2025 in Damascus killed or injured a third of its congregation. In areas under the Transitional Government’s sole control, Christians are defenseless against threats from Syrian armed forces and Islamist militias, which the government is unwilling or unable to control.

Alongside targeted attacks, the Syrian Transitional Government has adopted increasingly hardline Islamist policies, including strict dress codes, closure of alcohol-serving establishments, halting wedding celebrations, and imposing Islamic religious mandates in education. The interim Syrian “Arab” constitution was created without meaningful input from minorities or moderate Sunnis. Sharia is the primary source of law, only Muslims can be President, and equal protection is denied to Syria’s non-Abrahamic communities like Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. Syria’s military forces are composed of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) militants, plus Islamist foreign fighters from Al Nusra, etc. All have long histories of attacking and violating the human rights of Syrian religious and ethnic minorities and women.

Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, and other minorities living in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (DAANES) are defended by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and currently enjoy a pluralistic, non-sectarian, and inclusive model of governance system with religious freedom and equal rights for all citizens, including women. Uniquely, Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is an official language in addition to Arabic and Kurdish. The Transitional Government seems poised to attack DAANES because the SDF will not lay down its arms and accept imposition of a unitary Islamist state. DAANES simply seeks to preserve existing freedoms for its citizens within a decentralized Syria, and the examples of Latakia and Suwayda make clear that surrendering arms to the Transitional Government is not a viable option. Indeed, the SDF and DAANES have fought HTS, SNA, and Al Nusra since 2011 and harbor no illusions about their intentions toward an undefended civilian population.

We believe in the inherent dignity and rights of every person. We urge the U.S. government to take decisive action to protect Syria’s vulnerable communities by renewing public U.S. commitments to religious freedom and equal rights for all Syrian citizens and announcing clear conditions for obtaining or keeping sanctions waivers based on progress in achieving the following goals.

1. Safety and Accountability for all Minority Groups: Violence against minority communities must stop. Perpetrators of recent and past violence must be held accountable, including members of Syrian security forces. Formal judicial proceedings, return of abducted women and children, restitution and compensation for deaths, injuries, and destroyed property are needed to eliminate a culture of impunity and restore faith in the central government.
2. Equal Citizenship Under Law: Swift revisions should create a Syrian constitution and laws that ensure equal rights based on citizenship, not ethnicity or religion. Women should have equality with men. A Syria wide constitutional drafting process is required in which all components (religious, political, etc.) participate with support from the U.S. and other nations.
3. Decentralization: The adopted Syrian governmental system should permit local self-governance and self-protection for minority communities so that they may preserve the rights and equality for which they have fought since the start of the Syrian Civil War, possibly mirroring our own federal/state system. In particular, local security forces should reflect the religious and ethnic makeup of the communities they

Thank you for your leadership and long-standing commitment to international religious freedom. We look forward to working with you to support a Syria where all people can live in peace and dignity.

Sincerely,

ORGANIZATIONS

IN DEFENSE OF CHRISTIANS LAW & LIBERTY TRUST

Mercury One

Save the Persecuted Christians Shai Fund

THE NAZARENE FUND

International Institute for Religious Freedom American Islamic Congress

Church of Scientology National Affairs Office Sunshine Ministries

Religious Freedom Coalition

International Association for Religious Freedom US Chapter ALEVI PHILOSOPHY CENTER ASSOCIATION

Alawites Association of the United States Oliva International, LLC

Interfaith League Against Poverty-US/Pak Friends of Thien Am Monastery

SIGS Security & Intelligence Group Coptic Solidarity

Path of YahRa Spiritual Society The Ohr Torah Interfaith Center Indigenous Ministries International Shia Rights Watch

Levant Council of the United States International Christian Concern Sallux ECPM Foundation Covenant Nonprofit

PowerMentor

Stichting Schlomo Nederland Genocide Watch

European Syriac Union ESU Jubilee Campaign

Jewish Coalition Against Workplace Antisemitism HFN

American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council Prayer Pioneers

Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento AMERICAN SYRIAC UNION

Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy

Institute for the Documentation of Human Rights Violations against Religious Minorities in the Levant International Association for Religious Freedom

DIASPORA ALLIANCE

Human Rights Without Frontiers Catholics for Trump/Vance Christ’s Mandate for Missions

 

INDIVIDUALS

Charmaine Hedding, President, Shai Fund

Dede Laugesen, Executive Director, Save the Persecuted Christians

Lauren Homer, Attorney, Law & Liberty Trust, Co-chair of the Middle East Working Group Suzanne Bock Grishman, Executive Director, Mercury One & The Nazarene Fund Archbishop Thomas Paul Schirrmacher, Global Ambassador, Conservative Anglican Church Zainab Al-Suwaij, Executive Director, American Islamic Congress

Susan Taylor, National Public Affairs Director, Church of Scientology National Affairs Office Bhaktivasya Nithyananda, Yoga Acharya

William J. Murray, President, Religious Freedom Coalition

Sajid Sandhu, President, Interfaith League Against Poverty-US/Pak Tanya Nguyen-Do, President, Friends of Thien Am Monastery Patrice J. Pederson, President, Freedom First Foundation

Eva Miskelova, Deputy Director of Religious Freedom and International Cooperation, Path of YahRa Spiritual Society

Kamal Sharaf, PhD, Forum of Religious Leaders in Israel Maya Abihamdi, Yirka, Israel

Dee A. Cook, CEO, Indigenous Ministries International Mr. Dogan Bermek, Alevi Philosophy Center Association Eylül Ophelia Akkaya

Osnat Otman, Rashi Foundation

Ezra Klein, Rabbi, Mevaser Shalom Synagogue, Mevaseret Zion

Tugba Tanyeri-Erdemir, Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable Middle East Working Group Mohannad Aldebs, D. Eng

Aline Frankian, American Alliance for Democratic Syria Ms. Haya Flayhan

Mr. Wael Radwan Mohamad Hassan, MD

Dr. George Gurguis, former President of Coptic Solidarity Doğukan Üçlertoprağı

Dr Richard Denton

Sandra Korteweg-Vermeer, Director, Stichting Schlomo Nederland Dr. Gregory Stanton, Founder and President, Genocide Watch Edwin Martinez Cordero, CJI

Brian Wills, President, HFN

Lisa DeGrace, Missionary, ACTION International Ministries Mrs. Nahren Anweya

Zebunnesa Zeba Zubair, Executive Board Member, American Muslim & Women’s Empowerment Council Mehmet Ali Eren Saya, Alevi Philosophy Center Istanbul

Rev. Kay Alice Daly, Vice President, Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento Robert Ozgun, Secretary, American Syriac Union

Joshua Landis, Sandra Mackey Chair of Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma Kamal Fahmi, Founder, Set My People Free

Ibrahim Anli, Executive Director, Rumi Forum

Anila Ali, President, American Muslim & Women’s Empowerment Council Tezcan Inanlar, Director of Leadership Development, Rumi Forum

Ellen Grigsby, Strategic Relationships Director, Frontline International Minh Le, Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy

Mr. Alan M. Gold, International Festival Foundation Loan Nguyen, Faith for Faith and Justice in Vietnam

Dr. Jens Kraith, Institute for the Documentation of Human Rights Violations against Religious Minorities in the Levant

Ms. Kinana Hamwi

Ms. Elizabeth Darr, International Association for Religious Freedom Emmanuel Ihim, Esq, Director, International Missions Outreach Drew Bowling, Executive Director, Catholics for Trump/Vance Bassam Ishak, President, Syriac National Council of Syria

Johannes De Jong, Executive Director, Sallux ECPM Foundation

 

Informative Sources:

• USCIRF (Podcast, May 23, 2025): Religious Freedom in Syria: Transitions After Assad with Nadine Maenza, IRF Roundtable Co-Chair. https://uscirf.gov/news-room/uscirf- spotlight/religious-freedom-syria-transitions-after-assad
• USCIRF (Report, Jul 1, 2025): Religious Freedom and U.S. Policy in Post-Assad Syria. https://uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025%20Syria%20Policy%20Update.pdf
• USCIRF (Press Release, Jul 18, 2025): USCIRF Condemns Violence Against Syria’s Druze Community. USCIRF Condemns Violence against Syria’s Druze Community July 18, 2025
• USCIRF (Report, Nov 2022): Religious Freedom in Syria Under Hay’at Tahrir Al-

Sham. https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/2022%20Factsheet%20-%20HTS-Syria.pdf

• UN Human Rights Council, Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (Report, Aug 14, 2025):Violations Against Alawites, Christians, and Other Civilians in Coastal and Western Central Syria.

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/a-hrc- 59-crp4-en.pdf

• Wall Street Journal (Aug 14, 2025), UN Report Finds Widespread Killing by

Syrian Government Allies Earlier This Year. https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-n-report-finds- widespread-killing-by-syrian-government-allies-earlier-this-year- d740ba2f?st=eH5jdk&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

• Associated Press (2025): Syria’s Minorities Demand Decentralized State and a Constitution That Guarantees https://apnews.com/article/syria-kurds-alawites-druze-christians- 03ce149668f0af0bb77e97213d08dbe0
• Jerusalem Post: Sharaa’s Islamist Army Fuels Syria’s Descent into Sectarian https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-864279
• Syriac Press (Jul 4, 2025): Saraya Ansar al-Sunna Issues Dire Threats to Syria’s Christians. https://syriacpress.com/blog/2025/07/04/saraya-ansar-al%E2%80%91sunna- issues-dire-threats-to-syrias-christians/
• Jerusalem Post (2025): Sharaa’s Nightmare Is on the Verge of https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-864506
• Arab News (2025): How Syria Can Move Beyond Division, Achieve https://www.arabnews.com/node/2612145/middle-east
• Save the Persecuted Christians (Video, 2025): Damascus Church Attack and the Resurgence of ISIS in Syria (with Dr. Zhudi Jasser, Dede Laugensen, and Lauren Homer). https://savethepersecutedchristians.org/damascus-church-attack-and-the-resurgence-of-isis- in-syria/
• Al-Monitor (Aug 2025): Pentagon: Al-Qaeda Remnants Seek Influence in Syria’s New Government. https://al-monitor.com/originals/2025/08/pentagon-al-qaeda-remnants- seek- influence-syrias-new-government
• S. Department of Defense (Report, Jul 31, 2025): Lead Inspector General Report to Congress on Operation Inherent Resolve (Q3).

Https

• Al-Monitor (Jul 2025): ‘We’ve Been Living with the Dead’: Dispatch from Syria’s Suwayda. https://al-monitor.com/originals/2025/07/weve-been-living-dead-al-monitors-dispatch-syrias- suwayda?gift_code=j1cYYf6LzFSxGCL6od3EzbxDY34
• Maryknoll Magazine (Jul 2025): Religious Minorities in Syria Are Killed,

Persecuted. https://www.maryknollmagazine.org/2025/07/religious-minorities-in-syria-are- killed-persecuted/

• Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ, 2025): A Critical Examination of Syria’s Religious

Landscape After the Regime’s Fall: Exclusion, Extremism, and Coercion. https://stj-sy.org/en/a-critical- examination-of-syrias-religious-landscape-after-the-regimes-fall-exclusion-extremism-and-coercion/

• BBC News (Jun 2025) ‘We are not safe here anymore’ – Syria’s Christians fear for future after devastating church attack https://bbc.com/news/articles/c79q8p8qx1do
• Syriac Press (Oct 2025) SYRIA: Two Christians killed, one critically injured, in Wadi al-Nasara sparks outrage and general strike https://syriacpress.com/blog/2025/10/02/syria-three-christians-killed-by- general-security-in-wadi-al-nasara-sparks-outrage-and-general-strike/
• SARI Global (Oct 2025) Attack in Wadi Al-Nasara raises sectarian violence concerns https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/attack-wadi-al-nasara-raises-sectarian-violence-concerns
• SARI Global (Sept 2025) Syria’s 2025 Elections: Legitimacy and Representation https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syrias-2025-elections-legitimacy-and-representation
• org(Sept 2025) Update on Syria: A New Era or More of the Same for Syrian Christians? update-on-syria-a-new-era-or-more-of-the-same-for-syrian-christians