Int’l groups see opportunity for ‘new page’ in Syria for human rights

DAMASCUS

People shop in a street in Damascus, on Dec. 10, 2024.

As several international organizations perceive a rare chance to pursue justice for the human rights atrocities committed during the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Human Rights Watch has described the moment as "an opportunity to turn the page."

Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, more widely recognized by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, declared in a recent statement that he will dismantle the security apparatus of the previous regime and shutter its notorious detention centers.

The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) had earlier vowed to pursue those culpable for acts of torture and other abuses.

Since the 2011 uprising that sparked the civil war, more than 100,000 people have died in Syrian prisons, often under torture.

About 30,000 people had been detained at Saydnaya, where detainees endured some of the worst torture, with only 6,000 released.

At long last, human rights organizations have a rare opportunity to access prison sites, conduct unrestricted interviews with witnesses and expedite the preparation of legal cases for prosecution.

Assad's ouster "has created a momentous opportunity for Syria to break with decades of repression and turn the page on human rights," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Dec. 12.

"A better future for Syria requires addressing decades of abuse by the former government and other warring parties during the country's 13-year conflict... and protecting Syrians regardless of their ethnic or sectarian backgrounds or political affiliations."

HRW called on Syria's leadership to use this "unprecedented opportunity to lead by example on human rights.”

After Assad's overthrow, thousands flocked to Saydnaya Prison, a grim symbol of some of the worst atrocities committed under his rule, hoping to find loved ones who disappeared in government jails.

"They buried the people everywhere, not just in Saydnaya. There are Saydnayas everywhere under our feet in Syria," said Yasmine Shabib who still could not locate her brother or father, both arrested in 2013.

This week, Syria's White Helmet rescuers called on Russia to pressure Assad into providing maps of secret jails and lists of detainees as they race against time to release prisoners.

Institutions such as the Commission for International Justice and Accountability and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have tirelessly worked to chronicle atrocities and build a robust foundation for future trials.

This endeavor gained significant momentum in its early stages when a former Syrian military police photographer, codenamed Caesar, defected in 2013. He brought with him harrowing photographic evidence of thousands of detainees who had perished in custody, offering a chilling glimpse into the regime's systematic brutality.

Human rights groups have also leveraged the Assad regime’s own bureaucratic compulsion to meticulously document the inner workings of its prison system. With the advent of advanced digital tools, unavailable during earlier conflicts, these organizations have been able to comprehensively catalog and analyze the abuses, significantly enhancing their investigative capabilities.

Jolani also said that the rebel group is working with international organizations to secure possible sites where chemical weapons may be located.

The Pentagon, in response, said the U.S. welcomes his comments about securing potential chemical weapons sites, but cautioned that “actions have to meet words as well.”