Syria commission confirms deaths of chess champion’s children in 2013 raid
The National Commission for Missing Persons has concluded with high certainty that the six children of Rania al-Abbasi are deceased, following a decade-long investigation into their disappearance under the former Assad regime.
Syria’s National Commission for Missing Persons (NCMP) has determined with a high degree of professional certainty that the six children of former chess champion Rania al-Abbasi are deceased. The commission, established by the country’s new authorities in May 2025 to investigate enforced disappearances, released its findings on Saturday, citing reliable and corroborating evidence gathered through multiple verification procedures.
The children, aged three to 15, vanished in March 2013 alongside their parents during a government raid on their home in Damascus. Their disappearance occurred under the rule of Bashar al-Assad, whose regime ended after his ouster in 2024. The NCMP stated that the conclusion was reached in coordination with national authorities, though it noted that efforts to locate the children’s remains are still ongoing.
Hassan al-Abbasi, Rania’s brother, confirmed the findings via a video posted to Facebook. He revealed that the family had viewed recordings linked to the primary suspect, which showed the children in a dark room being accused of being "major financiers of terrorism." "They turned out to be our children," al-Abbasi said, describing them as "martyred."
The Syrian Ministry of Interior confirmed that its investigation linked the killings to Amjad Youssef, a former intelligence officer and perpetrator of the 2013 Tadamon massacre. Youssef was arrested in April, and the ministry stated that interrogations of detainees, combined with video evidence and information from the NCMP, had strengthened the case against him.
The Tadamon massacre gained international attention in 2022 when The Guardian published footage allegedly leaked by a conscript, showing intelligence officers killing detainees. The video identified Youssef as an officer shooting blindfolded and bound individuals. The case has become a focal point for demands for justice among Syrians seeking accountability for atrocities committed during the civil war.
The fate of Rania al-Abbasi and her husband, Abdul Rahman Yasin, remains officially unknown. While rights groups and media reports suggest they may have died, their bodies have never been found. The issue of missing persons remains one of the most pressing challenges in Syria, with the NCMP estimating last year that the number of people who disappeared under decades of al-Assad family rule may exceed 300,000.
The al-Abbasi family’s plight has become a symbol for the thousands of children and adults who were forcibly disappeared or detained during the conflict, which erupted in 2011 following a brutal crackdown on antigovernment protests. The NCMP’s latest findings underscore the scale of the humanitarian crisis and the ongoing efforts by Syria’s new administration to address the legacy of the previous regime.
