Alarm as Syria plans private jet hub on former torture site

Syrian government plans to turn a former military airport in Damascus into a ⁠hub for private jets are raising alarm among rights groups and residents who say redevelopment could disturb suspected mass graves and override private land claims.

Syria’s civil aviation authority said last week it was preparing to reclassify Mezzeh military airport for limited civilian use, focused on private and executive aviation, to complement Damascus International Airport.

Rubble removal and infrastructure upgrades had already begun, said a report on Syria’s state news agency, Sana.

The project is emerging as a test of how Syria’s new authorities balance a drive to attract investment and redevelop state assets with two ‌unresolved legacies of the Assad family’s rule: the fate of tens of thousands of missing Syrians and property rights clouded by decades of expropriation.

Under ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez, Mezzeh housed key branches of the powerful Air Force Intelligence Directorate, as well as numerous detention facilities where suspected government opponents were tortured, executed and subjected to enforced disappearance. Parts of the airbase were used for presidential and other official flights.