The fragile fight for justice in a post-Assad Syria

Ziad Mahmoud al-Amayiri sat with photographs of his 10 mislaid household members laid retired successful beforehand of him.

“There are 2 options: either the authorities gives maine justice, oregon I instrumentality justness myself.”

Al-Amayiri’s menace is directed astatine 1 man: Fadi Saqr.

Saqr was a commandant of the National Defence Forces (NDF), a militia loyal to Bashar al-Assad that was accused of atrocities similar the 2013 Tadamon massacre, where, according to section Syrian officials, activists and leaked videos, dozens of radical were led to a pit and shot.

However, Saqr denies immoderate links to what happened successful Tadamon. He told The New York Times that helium was not the NDF’s person astatine the time.

But al-Amayiri insists Saqr should beryllium down bars for the disappearance of his loved ones, who helium says were arrested by NDF fighters successful 2013.

Instead, Saqr is walking free.

Hassan Soufan, a subordinate of the government-appointed Committee for Civil Peace, says Saqr was “granted harmless passage” by Syria’s caller leadership “at the opening of the liberation”.

Soufan said Saqr’s merchandise was portion of a strategy to calm tensions due to the fact that of his links to Alawite groups successful the region.

Photographs of immoderate of al-Amayiri’s household members helium believes were arrested and yet disappeared by the pro-Assad National Defence Forces [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

“No 1 tin contradict that this harmless transition contributed to averting bloodshed,” said Soufan.

But that was not capable to fulfill galore Syrians, particularly successful Tadamon, wherever residents demanded that Saqr beryllium tried successful court.

“How was the authorities capable to forgive Fadi Saqr with the humor of our families?” said al-Amayiri, speaking of the 10 loved ones helium has lost.

“I don’t deliberation they volition beryllium capable to clasp him accountable aft that.”

Syria’s fragile peace

A twelvemonth connected since the autumn of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s caller enactment is dealing with the precise existent information of radical feeling frustrated by justness efforts being delayed oregon denied.

After taking power, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said helium would prioritise “achieving civilian peace” and “prosecuting criminals who spilt Syrian humor … done genuine transitional justice”.

But the past twelvemonth has been marked by sectarian fighting – and determination has been a marked emergence successful alleged revenge killings.

As of November 2025, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 1,301 radical had died successful what it described arsenic “retaliatory actions” since the autumn of the Assad authorities successful December 2024.

These statistic bash not see the radical killed during the convulsive clashes connected either the Syrian seashore successful March oregon successful Suwayda successful July.

Syria’s bid remains fragile, with much than 1,300 deaths linked to ‘retaliatory actions’, according to the Syrian Observatory [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

The coastal massacres unsocial resulted successful the decease of 1,400 people, chiefly civilians, according to a United Nations report.

The clashes successful Suwayda, triggered by warring betwixt Druze and Bedouin communities, killed hundreds, the bulk of them Druze.

In his archetypal interrogation with an English-language outlet, Abdel Basit Abdel Latif, caput of the National Commission for Transitional Justice, acknowledged the risks of stalled justice.

“It is definite that immoderate Syrian national volition consciousness that if the transitional justness process does not commencement properly, they volition edifice to their ain ways, which is thing we bash not privation for,” Abdel Latif said.

Ibrahim al-Assil from the Atlantic Council says it is an illustration of a conundrum often seen successful transitional justice: pursuing justness versus keeping the peace.

“Which 1 comes first? It’s precise important to realise that they bash request to enactment manus successful hand, but things are ne'er ideal.”

Government forces show cardinal roads and checkpoints successful and astir Damascus successful an effort to support bid and information [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

Transitional justness successful Syria

The authorities has acceptable up 2 bodies to oversee transitional justice.

One, headed by Abdel Latif, tackles transitional justness much broadly, addressing violations committed by the erstwhile regime.

The different is focused connected investigating the estimated 300,000 Syrians considered missing and wide believed to person disappeared into al-Assad’s notorious situation system and buried successful mass graves.

A pistillate holds a representation of a missing comparative during a protestation extracurricular the Hijaz bid presumption successful Damascus connected December 27, 2024, calling for accountability successful Syria [Anwar Amro/AFP]

While the standard of the missing is often reported arsenic much than 100,000 people, the caput of the National Commission connected Missing Persons believes it is astir 300,000.

Ever since the fall, determination person been concerns that this fig is rising, with UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan saying they “continue to person worrying reports astir dozens of abductions and enforced disappearances”.

Both nationalist committees person met planetary experts to gully lessons from different transitional justness processes.

But Danny al-Baaj, vice president for advocacy and nationalist relations astatine the Syrian Forum, believes “we’re acold down immoderate existent progress”.

“A model is inactive missing. A peculiar instrumentality connected transitional justness is inactive missing,” helium said.

The families of the hundreds of thousands of forcibly disappeared Syrians are besides demanding answers.

Wafa Ali Mustafa is simply a Syrian activistic whose father, Ali Mustafa, was arrested successful the capital, Damascus, 12 years ago.

“Families of the detainees are not going connected the streets each time saying that present you person to excavation wide graves,” she said.

“They’re saying astatine slightest pass with us, astatine slightest fto america cognize what you are doing.”

The caput of the National Commission connected Missing Persons, Mohammad Reda Jalkhi, explained that Syria needs a immense magnitude of resources.

Tasked with investigating 1 of Syria’s astir achy chapters, Mohammad Reda Jalkhi leads the National Commission connected Missing Persons, searching for the information astir the forcibly disappeared [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

“We request to bash precise hard enactment connected gathering capacity, preparing the infrastructure, collecting data, analysing data, and equipping laboratories,” Jalkhi said.

“All this does not hap overnight.”

The authorities has made dozens of arrests, including radical linked to the erstwhile regime.

It has been posting glossy videos connected societal media of situation guards making confessions and suspects appearing earlier judges.

But questions stay astir transparency.

“Of course, each clip they apprehension someone, radical get very, precise blessed and grateful,” Wafa added.

“Unfortunately, we don’t truly cognize what’s happening to these people, we don’t cognize wherever they’re being held, we don’t cognize what benignant of probe they’re being exposed to.”

There is besides ambiguity astir arrests of information and subject unit who were linked to sectarian unit successful Suwayda earlier this year, which killed hundreds of people.

But the pb researcher of the Suwayda killings declined to accidental however many.

“My occupation with the wide arrests,” said al-Baaj, “is that it’s not according to a plan.”

“We don’t cognize however the authorities is doing its work.”

Holding perpetrators accountable

One of the big hopes among Syrians is for public, nationalist trials of Assad-era warfare crimes.

Hasan al-Hariri helped to smuggle much than 1.3 cardinal pieces of documentary grounds retired of Syria.

For much than a decade, Hasan al-Hariri led a squad of investigators who snuck much than a cardinal pieces of grounds retired of Syria [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

Since the commencement of the warfare successful 2011, helium has been moving for the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), which specialises successful collecting transgression evidence.

Al-Hariri led a squad of radical who would find and retrieve paperwork from places similar authorities quality buildings and constabulary stations – successful areas wherever al-Assad’s forces had been driven out, oregon portion warring was inactive going on.

They past came up with originative ways to sneak the invaluable documents done subject checkpoints and yet crossed the border.

“Sometimes we utilized to instrumentality vantage of moving furniture,” al-Hariri said.

“We utilized to enactment the documents underneath the car’s level and capable it with the furnishings of the house.”

CIJA present has a immense archive of security, subject and quality documents that nexus warfare crimes to authorities officials astatine the highest levels, each the mode up to al-Assad himself.

“Countries that saw conflicts, specified arsenic Bosnia, began enactment aft 5 years and started collecting evidence, truthful the grounds was gone, oregon lone a fewer elemental things could beryllium collected,” al-Hariri said.

“We worked during the conflict, truthful the grounds was alive.”

But portion that suggests Syria has a head-start successful the judicial process, nationalist trials are inactive a agelong mode away.

One of the 1.3 cardinal documents al-Hariri hopes volition beryllium utilized to prosecute Assad authorities officials [Harriet Tatham/Al Jazeera]

The Assad-era ineligible strategy is inactive being reformed.

“It needs ineligible infrastructure, administrative infrastructure, courts, judges, and resources,” said al-Baaj.

But helium added that determination is an eagerness among Syrians.

“All of america privation to spot these nationalist trials, privation to spot the full process of transitional justness starting.”

That includes radical similar al-Amayiri, who wants to spot Saqr look trial.

But helium says his biggest tendency is to beryllium capable to mourn his loved ones.

“It is present a imagination for america to person a sedate for our household to visit,” helium said.

“To cognize that these are their remains, and that they are buried here.”