A campaign launched by Syrians days before the start of the Paris Olympics succeeded in preventing Omar al-Aroub, Vice President of the General Sports Federation and President of the Syrian Paralympic Committee, accused of committing crimes against Syrian students and participating in military operations against civilians, from attending.

The campaign was preceded by an investigation published by the Syrian-British Consortium on June 19, 2024, revealing torture crimes and arrests carried out by the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS) between 2011 and 2013.

A member of the investigation team (reserved his name) told Enab Baladi today, Thursday, July 25, that the International Olympic Committee informed the Consortium before the weekend that Omar al-Aroub “is not on the list of persons accredited for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The member added that “thanks to the courage of the survivors of regime crimes and the strong support of the public, a war criminal was prevented from attending.”

He pointed out that allowing al-Aroub to represent the “Syrian team” and visit Paris as part of the preparations is very shocking in the first place.

The International Olympic Committee now, according to the investigation team member, should refuse to acknowledge al-Aroub as President of the Syrian Paralympic Committee and Vice President of the General Sports Federation in Syria, and he along with all officials involved in killing, arresting, and torturing Syrian students should be brought to justice in a legal court eventually.

The website of the pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper reported that the delegation includes the Secretary-General of the Olympic Committee, Ala Khouji (as the head of the delegation), and his assistant Omar Ashour.

In addition to the Executive Office member of the General Sports Federation Marwan Dwayer, the Olympic attaché Vice President of the Syrian Olympic Committee Atif al-Zibaq, and the participating players along with their administrative, technical, and medical teams.

The Syrian delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympics includes six athletes: equestrian rider Amro Hamsho in show jumping, weightlifter Maan Asaad in over 100 kg category.

As well as Elisar Youssef in the 100-meter race, Omar Abbas in freestyle swimming, Hassan Bayan in judo, and Laith Najjar in gymnastics.

The “For Syria” campaign

With the start of the Paris Olympics approaching, criticisms around al-Aroub’s participation, accused of violations and crimes, within the regime’s delegation to the Olympics increased.

The Olympics officially start on July 26, and al-Aroub was scheduled to participate after his first visit to Paris from August 24 to 29, 2023, and his participation in a seminar for the heads of the national Paralympic committees missions in Paris, at that time he published a photo of himself in front of the Eiffel Tower on his Facebook account.

The “For Syria” campaign (The Syria Campaign) launched on June 20, 2024, called on the International Olympic Committee to prevent war criminals from the Syrian regime from participating in the 2024 Olympics.

The campaign stated, “We cannot allow this to happen,” referring to al-Aroub’s participation in the Olympics, as he has “a horrific past, being a member of the executive office of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS), which brutally suppressed student protests during the Syrian revolution.”

He personally ordered NUSS members to throw protesting students from the fourth-floor windows of university dormitories.

The “For Syria” organization is known as a human rights non-profit organization that “supports Syria’s heroes in their struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy.”

Activists and former members of the National Union of Syrian Students also criticized al-Aroub’s participation and recalled his previous crimes against students.

Allegations against al-Aroub

Omar al-Aroub alongside regime’s head Bashar al-Assad (National Union of Syrian Students/Facebook)

Al-Aroub is accused of committing crimes during his work in the National Union of Syrian Students, according to the investigation by the Syrian-British Consortium, which focused on the violations committed by the union between March 2011 and the end of 2013.

Al-Aroub held the position of member of the branch leadership of the union in Aleppo from 2000 to 2010, then as branch president, and member of the executive office of the union, as head of the National and Volunteer Work Office until 2019.

In 2012, a military group connected to the union was formed in Aleppo University, named the Baath Brigades, and similar groups were later formed in other universities.

He is the deputy leader of the Baath Brigades, according to the official website of the Syrian Olympic Committee, and a central committee member of the Baath Party in Aleppo branch.

He obtained a Ph.D. in education from Damascus University on July 21, 2024.

Since his appointment in February 2020, as Vice President of the General Sports Federation and President of the Syrian Paralympic Committee, al-Aroub participated in a number of international sports events, including:

September 2023 – The 19th Asian Games in China.

December 2022 – The Regional Forum for the West, Central, and South Asia Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia and Olympic solidarity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

August 2021 – Tokyo Olympics.