The ISIS Prisons Museum Documents the Shaitat Massacre in Deir ez-Zor Province
The largest ISIS massacre in Syria… 814 victims
The ISIS Prisons Museum – Berlin, March 2025
As part of a series of investigations and documented testimonies of human rights violations committed by the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Syria, the ISIS Prisons Museum has published a comprehensive investigation into the Shaitat Massacre carried out by ISIS in August 2014 in rural Deir ez-Zor.
This is the first time such an extensive study has been published. It details the context, background, and consequences of the massacre, tracking its events day by day and examining the brutal violence that took place. This special investigation, prepared by researchers Sasha al-Alou and Ayman Alou, has systematically compiled and analyzed all the data of the massacre’s victims, linking it to records of mass graves. The investigation relied on dozens of video and audio interviews with those who witnessed the events, including survivors, relatives of the victims, and tribal leaders.
The Shaitat Massacre is considered one of the largest mass killings in Syria. Its over 814 confirmed victims make it, in terms of numbers, the second-largest massacre in Syria since 2011 (the first was the chemical attack carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Ghouta in August 2013), and the third-largest in Syria’s modern history (the first being the Hama Massacre perpetrated by Hafez al-Assad’s regime in February 1982). The Shaitat Massacre was the largest atrocity committed by ISIS in Syria. To this day, the number of victims continues to grow. The massacre has left an indelible mark on the memory of the Shaitat clan and Syria’s collective memory.
The documentation and research produced by the ISIS Prisons Museum provide a comprehensive account of all the violations linked to the Shaitat Massacre, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions. Many of these violations were perpetrated in dozens of prisons established in the homes and other properties of the clan specifically to detain clan members. The investigation features 3D virtual tours of three detention sites. These serve as models for the many other prisons ISIS established in Shaitat territory. These tours were captured at different periods, analyzed architecturally, and digitally reconstructed to illustrate what transpired inside them during ISIS control. Crime scenes were reconstructed based on testimonies from nine survivors.
The investigation also presents a list of 22 locations where mass graves were discovered. These contained the bodies or remains of Shaitat members executed by ISIS in various ways between August 3 and August 30, 2014. In addition, it includes 19 recorded testimonies—both video and audio—some from survivors of ISIS prisons in the Shaitat region, and others from women who lost family members in the massacre.
The ISIS Prisons Museum collaborated on this investigation with the Shaitat Victims’ Families’ Association, which had previously surveyed the number of victims. The museum team reanalyzed this data, incorporating documents and images provided by the association, to build a complete picture of the massacre—honoring the victims, supporting their families, and preserving the historical record of an event with genocidal characteristics. This effort aims to strengthen international legal action against former ISIS members and to contribute to achieving justice.
Justice Begins with Recognition
Amer Matar, Director of the ISIS Prisons Museum, says:
“At the ISIS Prisons Museum, we work to collect live testimonies, analyze forensic evidence, and document the stories of victims and their families to shed light on the crimes of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and to preserve them in the collective memory. We also focus on providing a platform for families to share their suffering while reinforcing legal efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for these atrocities.”
Matar emphasizes that “documenting the Shaitat Massacre is not merely an archival effort but a fundamental step toward achieving justice and preventing the recurrence of such crimes in the future.”
He urges “all human rights organizations, media professionals, and international institutions to collaborate with us in raising awareness about this issue and ensuring justice for the victims and their families. We believe that justice begins with recognition, and we are committed to keeping these crimes at the forefront of public consciousness while supporting local and international efforts to prosecute the perpetrators.”
Re-documentation and Narrative Correction
Researcher Sasha al-Alou, who worked on the Shaitat Massacre investigation, says, “Despite more than ten years passing since this event, and the significant legal and media efforts to cover it, many aspects of the massacre previously remained unclear—particularly regarding documentation and narrative accuracy. The massacre has not received sufficient systematic study and documentation, whether regarding the initial spark, its circumstances, or its broader historical context. Moreover, a clear and well-supported timeline of the massacre—based on comprehensive records, dates, and testimonies—had yet to be fully established.”
Al-Alou adds, “The data and figures regarding the victims remain problematic due to the variation between different sources. Additionally, previous studies have not explored deeply enough the massacre’s consequences or the various forms of violence that occurred over different time frames—especially the performative violence used by ISIS in executing the massacre, which reflected its ‘Management of Savagery’ philosophy as it expanded and imposed itself as a governing force in parts of Syria and Iraq.”
According to al-Alou, the investigation aims “to re-document and reconstruct the event, refine its narrative, and provide a knowledge base for multiple future efforts—particularly legal proceedings that remain unresolved due to the large number of missing persons and the continued discovery of mass graves. Furthermore, many individuals were involved in this event, which forms part of a long road to justice.”
Al-Alou concludes, “This study contributes to establishing a solid knowledge foundation that can support continued research into ISIS’s behavior in Syria, as well as the local socio-military interactions during its control.”