Plans to repurpose the Mezzeh military airbase as a private-jet hub have alarmed rights groups and residents who warn construction could disturb suspected mass graves and override decades-old private land claims. AFI documents obtained by SJAC indicate Mezzeh was approved in 2012 as an execution site, and a 2025 SJAC probe identified two suspected graves linked to more than 1,150 detainee deaths. SJAC has urged Syria's missing-persons commission to halt works pending investigation; authorities have not provided a substantive response. Residents and UN experts are pressing for restitution and protections for potential victims and rightful landowners.
Mezzeh Airport Redevelopment Sparks Outcry Over Suspected Mass Graves and Land Claims
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the runway from the tower control room at military airport in the suburb of Mezzeh where many Syrians died in detention, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at the site that was widely feared, according to a report shared exclusively with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Feras Dalatey/File Photo
Plans to convert Damascus's former Mezzeh military airbase into a private and executive aviation hub have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and local residents. Critics warn that rubble removal and refurbishment could disturb suspected mass graves and trample long-standing private land claims tied to mid-20th-century expropriations.
FILE PHOTO: A view shows a control room at a military airport in the suburb of Mezzeh where many Syrians died in detention, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at the site that was widely feared, according to a report shared exclusively with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Dalatey/File Photo
Documents Link Mezzeh To Executions
Newly obtained Air Force Intelligence (AFI) records, shared with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), indicate that senior military officials approved Mezzeh in 2012 as a site for carrying out executions of detainees sentenced by military field courts. The files describe plans to use a firing range and later a hangar beside the runway as execution sites, request materials such as nylon rope, and order construction of a platform under strict AFI supervision and secrecy.
FILE PHOTO: A view shows military officer’s desk at military airport in the suburb of Mezzeh where many Syrians died in detention, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at the site that was widely feared, according to a report shared exclusively with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Feras Dalatey/File Photo
In 2025 SJAC reported identifying two suspected grave sites inside the airbase and linked Mezzeh to more than 1,150 detainee deaths from execution, torture or maltreatment. SJAC provided coordinates for the suspected graves to Syria's National Commission for Missing Persons in July 2025 and again warned the commission on Sept. 8 after redevelopment plans emerged, urging authorities to pause works until proper investigations and protection of remains and evidence are carried out. SJAC says it has received no substantive response.
FILE PHOTO: Abandoned tanks are parked in an aircraft hangar at a military airport in the suburb of Mezzeh where many Syrians died in detention, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at the site that was widely feared, according to a report shared exclusively with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Maggie Michael/File Photo
Authorities, Rights Groups And Families Respond
The Syrian civil aviation authority and the defense ministry — which has operated the site — did not answer Reuters questions about the suspected graves or competing land claims. State news agency SANA quoted the civil aviation authority as saying Mezzeh's refurbishment would take the surrounding urban area and "relevant legal and social issues" into account, but the statement did not address the suspected graves or property disputes.
FILE PHOTO: A view of the runway at the Mezzeh military airbase along with several hangars, at southwest of Damascus, Syria, November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Feras Dalatey/File Photo
"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," said Amer Matar, founder of the Germany-based Syria Prisons Museum.
Residents Protest Land Claims
Local records from the Moadamiya municipality show Mezzeh was built on roughly 2.76 sq km (1.1 sq miles) of land registered to hundreds of private owners. Residents and a former municipal official told Reuters that land expropriation decrees were later used to retroactively justify the state's use of those plots when the airport was constructed in 1956, and that compensation was not paid. Nearby residents staged protests after redevelopment plans were announced, demanding a seat at the negotiating table and fair restitution or compensation.
FILE PHOTO: An abandoned aircraft is parked at a military airport in the suburb of Mezzeh where many Syrians died in detention, killed by execution, torture or maltreatment at the site that was widely feared, according to a report shared exclusively with Reuters by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre tracing the deaths to seven suspected grave sites, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Feras Dalatey/File Photo
On Sept. 2 United Nations land rights experts urged the Syrian government to suspend and repeal laws that enabled systematic property dispossession under the Assad era and to establish mechanisms to return property to rightful owners or provide adequate compensation.
Why This Matters
The Mezzeh redevelopment pits an economic objective — attracting private aviation investment and repurposing state assets — against unresolved human rights and property legacies of decades of authoritarian rule. Rights groups, families of the missing and UN experts say any redevelopment should be delayed until forensic investigations, site protection and transparent consultations with affected owners and communities are completed.
Help us improve.
