Zala Pochat-Krizaj
With the recent fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and his escape from the country on 8 December 2024, Syria has begun to unravel the extent of the human rights atrocities committed since the war started in 2011. Mass graves are being uncovered gradually, providing clues as to what happened to the thousands of civilians missing. Estimates indicate over 100,000 people went missing since 2011, with over 80,000 likely dead.
Locating and identifying victims, many of whom died from torture, inhumane conditions of imprisonment or extrajudicial executions, will take a long time and present a significant challenge. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison have called on the transitional Syrian government, led by Islamist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to preserve and protect evidence of abuses, and to cooperate with international bodies and NGOs to ensure the atrocities are investigated and prosecuted. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, established in 2011 by the UN’s Human Rights Council, visited Syria in late December 2024. Their visit suggested potential cooperation with the transitional Syrian government to document evidence of abuses, giving some hope to the victims and families of the forcibly disappeared.
Evidence of crimes perpetrated by al-Assad’s government is vast. Many human rights organisations have been collecting it over the years, including the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the UN Commission of Inquiry, and Amnesty International.
Locating the victims and providing them with a burial will give some closure to their families and also support criminal cases against the perpetrators. Thus, working to ensure these graves are located, excavated and analysed is crucial to provide a measure of justice to the victims and their families. However, the road ahead is long and challenging because many graves remain unknown, and documents that could locate them were left unprotected, burned or looted by armed groups, former detainees, or families of detainees. While the UN Commission of Inquiry is optimistic about preserving documents because many have been safeguarded already, they urge the public to return any document that has been taken. These documents would be decisive in determining what happened, locate victims, and build a case against the perpetrators. Human rights organisations have asked for the transitional government’s support in preventing looting. Safeguarding these documents is a priority to make a case against al-Assad and other perpetrators of mass atrocities in Syria.
In addition, protecting the location of mass graves will be of great importance to uncover evidence. Some mass graves have already been dug by locals, which may compromise forensic investigations. Therefore, securing the sites is critical. Amnesty International suggested raising awareness on preserving evidence and its role in obtaining closure and justice in the future. However, since families have been unable to get closure or information for years, securing the evidence can be complicated by desperate attempts to locate their loved ones. Families of missing victims sometimes were informed of their loved ones’ deaths, but more often than not, they could not obtain any information. The pain and silence they experienced will need to be balanced with the necessity to preserve evidence and investigate the atrocities. The victims and their families will also be confronted with the lengthy process of justice, which can lead to frustrations after the decades-long silence. To support victims and their families, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society opened phone lines for former detainees and families of the disappeared can register or request opening a case to locate a missing person. This support can be a great relief, but finding and identifying missing persons will be lengthy, and many will likely be disappointed or frustrated by the process.
While there are growing calls for justice for the victims, there is a fear that the new government will not instate a new judicial system that would address the past crimes. Countries coming out of authoritarian rule and who witnessed mass atrocities encounter issues of a flawed judicial system, such as a history of corruption or low levels of trust. For example, Serbia still struggles with recognising and prosecuting war crimes they committed during the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Adjusting the judicial system to respond to the atrocities and attitudes towards the past is, therefore, a lengthy process.
In Syria, impunity for human rights abuses was high in the previous regime’s judicial system, which can lead to high levels of scepticism or suspicion towards the transition government’s statements and intentions. A significant challenge will be arresting perpetrators for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Suspected perpetrators ran away or have gone into hiding. This includes Bashar al-Assad, who found refuge in Russia as a ‘humanitarian refugee’, and whose extradition would seem unlikely. Finally, the Syrian population might not trust the judicial system because it was, until recently, part of the repressive machinery that killed, tortured and disappeared thousands of civilians.
In addition, in Syria, the authoritarian regime and its atrocities date back over 50 years: Hafez al-Assad took power in 1971, while his son, Bashar, took over when his father died in 2000. Thus, a decades-long history of human rights abuses and a lack of trust towards institutions needs to be addressed. Reforming the judicial system so that it can address the abuses would be a valuable but colossal undertaking. It would require the much-hoped support of the transitional government.
While the road to justice and accountability will be long, it remains promising for now, with the transitional government appearing to be open to cooperating with international bodies. The future of accountability for the crimes and the openness of the new Syrian government remains to be seen. However, the momentum of the fall of the al-Assad regime remains promising, and the families of the victims seem hopeful.
Zala Pochat Križaj is a doctoral researcher at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. She is a member of the War Crimes Research Group. Her research focuses on reconciliation after mass atrocities in Slovenia.