The plan of the new Syrian authorities to transform the old military airport of Mezzeh, in Damascus, into a center intended for private flights and executive aviation has opened a strong controversy due to the past of the site. Human rights organizations claim that within its grounds there are at least two possible graves related to prisoners who died under the regime of Bashar al Assad and fear that the works will destroy human remains and fundamental evidence to identify the victims.
The Syrian General Authority of Civil Aviation announced at the beginning of September that it is working to reclassify the military airport and allow limited civil use, especially intended for private jets and executive flights, as a complement to Damascus International Airport. According to official information, work has already begun on debris removal and improvement of some infrastructures.
The project has thus become an example of the difficulties faced by post-Assad Syria: rebuilding and attracting investments without destroying the evidence of the crimes of the old regime or ignoring the claims of those who lost their properties during decades of expropriations.
More than 1,150 detainees died linked to Mezzeh
The Mezzeh airport was not only a military facility. During the civil war, certain dependencies of the site were used by the Syrian Air Force Intelligence as a detention center, one of the most feared security apparatuses of the regime.
An investigation by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) concluded in 2025 that more than 1,150 detainees died after passing through the facilities of Mezzeh, some executed and others as a result of torture, mistreatment, or the conditions of detention. The organization also identified two locations within the airport itself that it considers possible burial sites.
Documentation obtained during the investigations reflects orders related to the construction of a platform in a hangar, requests for nylon rope, and demands that certain works be carried out under the supervision of air intelligence and “with the utmost secrecy”, according to Reuters.
The investigators had already requested to protect the possible graves
The risk that a future remodeling would affect the evidence had already been warned before the airport project became publicly known. In July 2025, SJAC sent to the Syrian National Commission for the Disappeared the coordinates of two possible graves within the site.
The organization demanded that no excavations or constructions be carried out until the sites were examined by forensic specialists. At that time, the commission responded that there were no plans for construction or rehabilitation in Mezzeh, according to the documentation consulted by Reuters.
After the announcement of the conversion of the old military airport, SJAC again addressed the authorities on September 8. Their concern is that the removal of debris, earth movements, or new works may disturb human remains or destroy evidence necessary to reconstruct what happened to the disappeared.
For the moment, it is not clear which company will ultimately develop the project nor has a specific plan been publicly announced to preserve the possible graves before continuing with the actions.
An airport associated with Assad's repressive apparatus
The aerodrome occupies approximately 6.8 square kilometers southwest of Damascus and began to be used during the French Mandate. For decades it served as one of the main airports of the capital until the opening of the current Damascus International Airport in 1970, after which it acquired a primarily military character.
Under Assad's regime, Mezzeh ended up closely associated with the security apparatus. Hangars, dormitories, and other facilities were converted into detention places, according to investigations carried out based on testimonies, documents, and satellite image analysis.
The fall of Bashar al Assad at the end of 2024 opened access to numerous detention centers and files that until then remained under the regime's control, but left the new authorities facing the enormous challenge of locating tens of thousands of disappeared and preserving places that may contain evidence of executions and torture.
The former owners also claim the land
The possible graves are not the only focus of conflict. A considerable part of the land on which the airport was built originally belonged to private individuals and was expropriated decades ago.
Municipal records from Moadamiya consulted by Reuters indicate that the facilities occupied approximately 2.76 square kilometers belonging to hundreds of private owners. A former municipal official claims that the expropriation decrees ended up retrospectively regularizing the occupation of those lands and that many families did not receive compensation.
Residents protested after the project was announced to demand that any investment take their rights into account. Those affected claim that they do not necessarily oppose economic development, but demand to participate in the negotiations and receive compensation for the lost properties.
The controversy coincides with a call made on September 2 by United Nations experts for Syria to review or eliminate the rules used during the Assad era to facilitate the systematic confiscation of properties and establish mechanisms to return them to their rightful owners or adequately compensate them.
Reconstruction versus memory and justice
The case of Mezzeh concentrates two of the major problems that the new Syria will have to resolve. On one hand, the country needs to rehabilitate infrastructure, attract capital, and recover an economy devastated by more than a decade of war. On the other, it still needs to locate and identify thousands of victims and resolve the property confiscations accumulated over decades.
Human rights organizations do not necessarily demand abandoning any project at the airport, but to halt interventions that may affect possible burials until the sites are adequately studied and protected.
The risk is that an excavator could erase in a few hours evidence that has remained buried for years. And in a country where thousands of families continue to not know what happened to their missing loved ones, the lands of Mezzeh are not merely a real estate or airport opportunity: they may contain part of the necessary evidence to reconstruct the crimes of the Assad era and identify its victims.