Tadamon investigators deny withholding evidence in disputed children's deaths

The investigation team behind the Tadamon massacre disclosures — led by Syrian researcher Annsar Shahoud and Dutch-Turkish academic Uğur Ümit Üngör — issued a rebuttal to accusations that they withheld evidence related to the alleged killing of Dr. Rania al‑Abbasi’s children. The team said it never concealed materials and stressed that victim identification falls to judicial authorities, not researchers. They reiterated that they transferred all relevant evidence to German and Dutch authorities before the April 2022 publication, under instructions to preserve chain of custody; they also committed from the outset not to publish video footage to protect victims’ dignity and to avoid undermining legal proceedings. The researchers added that widely shared screenshots purporting to show child executions do not match any videos they examined and warned that misinformation hampers justice.

The statement follows the National Commission for the Missing’s announcement that, after technical and forensic analysis of materials received in a European capital, it has a high degree of certainty that the six children were killed; families were reportedly informed and offered psychological support. Family members, including the children’s uncle, have expressed confusion and criticism about how findings were communicated and about earlier comments from some investigators. Rights advocates have urged that competent Syrian bodies be allowed to examine the footage to help identify victims and perpetrators, while the Syrian Interior Ministry has said preliminary probes point to the involvement of former officer Amjad Youssef. The researchers emphasized that identifying and prosecuting suspects remains the remit of judicial authorities, not the investigative team as reported by Enab Baladi

This story has also been reported by: The Syrian Observer