Denver,CO – US-based Newlines Magazine have released a disturbing investigation with reports showing a financial link between SOSCO, a French NGO, and the pro-Assad National Defense Force militia, in violation of the sanctions put in place against the Assad forces since 2011.
According to the investigation, multiple sources indicated “a close working relationship and ongoing support and fundraising efforts in France,” which resulted in “hundreds of thousands of euros” being sent to Syrian pro-regime forces by the group. The unwitting donors likely believed their funds were being used by SOSCO for infrastructure projects in the war torn country. In fact, a visit to the SOSCO website shows a seemingly innocent aid group, with projects that focus on rebuilding parts of Aleppo, and helping the elderly fight COVID-19.
However, examination of financial documents from SOSCO show a much more insidious agenda from the group.
NGOs in France are subject to annual financial audits, and during SOSCO’s audits many financial documents “were apparently faked to fool auditors in France.” Officials remarked that SOSCO’s financial activities were “unverifiable,” during a public hearing. Investigators looking more closely at the money trail allegedly uncovered a “direct exchange” of about $56,000 from the group to Simon al-Wakil, a commander of the National Defence Forces (NDF) militia.
The NDF has been one of Assad’s largest assets in Syria’s gruesome civil war. Estimates put the size of the group between 60,000-100,000 troops fighting for the regime. The group has also allegedly received training and support from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, as well as Russian military forces operating in the country.
Investigators released incriminating pictures shedding light on SOSCO’s true nature. Pictures from 2018 show SOSCO volunteers posing with NDF officials in the city of Mhardeh in northern Syria. This is in addition to allegations of ties with far right extremist groups in France, with multiple pictures of SOSCO Director of Operations Xavier Giequel giving the Nazi salute with these organizations.
Additionally, SOSCO is accused of manipulating the narrative in the conflict, according to many sources interviewed in the investigation. Dr. Samira Mobaied, head of the NGO Syrian Christians for Peace, claims SOSCO’s “political narrative was that Assad protected minorities,” and the group “exploited this religious false and divisive narrative,” which led to further sectarian divisions in the country.
This behavior led Syrian Christians to denounce the group, and investigate the misappropriation of funds that SOSCO was raising in its donation campaigns. In one instance, Mobaied claims her organization decided to “follow the money to a hospital” that SOSCO claimed to be donating to. But upon inspection of the hospital, the investigators discovered “that very little money or equipment had been received.” This behavior aroused suspicion by many in the NGO community as to SOSCO’s real mission in Syria.
Furthermore, SOSCO’s original founder Olivier Demeocq made claims the group “falsely claimed that Christians had been beheaded,” by Sunni forces in the country, and “when I raised the issue, they told me it would help with the fundraising.” Demeocq has since cut ties with the group, which he accuses of using “false advertising” in its donation campaigns.
What is extremely disturbing is the group’s alleged ties with the French government.
SOSCO was apparently designated a “partner” to France’s Ministry of Defense for five years, before the government formally cut ties with the group as late as 2020. For these five years, it was the only NGO to operate in the entire MENA region with this designation, which is usually reserved for defense contractors.
The French government has refused to comment extensively on its relationship with the NGO group, only notifying investigators early last year that its relationship with the NGO had been “terminated.”
If these reports are true, then SOSCO is complicit in the mass oppression of the Assad regime on the Syrian people, and guilty of helping to perpetuate the brutal war that has killed at least 400,000 Syrians, and displaced roughly 7 million.
