Enab Baladi – Hassan Ibrahim
Syrians are anticipating accountability for war criminals involved in the systematic killings of civilians and the destruction of villages and cities. This list includes security leaders, officers, and members of militias.
The calls for the trial of tools of killing and criminality increase day by day, in contrast to the timid and unclear actions of the Syrian government, which do not meet the demands of survivors and victims. These actions range from news of the arrest of a criminal to leaving others free on the streets and the surrender of others from Lebanon.
The promises of the Syrian president during the transitional phase, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to issue “List No. 1,” which includes the names of senior individuals involved in torturing the Syrian people, have not been fulfilled four months after the fall of the previous regime and the fleeing of Bashar al-Assad to Moscow.
Unfulfilled promises
Two days after the fall of the regime, al-Sharaa vowed to announce “List No. 1” containing the names of senior individuals involved in torturing the Syrian people, stating, “We will not falter in holding accountable the criminals and killers, along with the security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people. We will pursue war criminals and request them from the countries they fled to until they receive their just punishment.”
He spoke of the new administration’s intent to reward those who provide information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.
As for the Minister of Defense, Murhaf Abu Qasra, he stated during an interview that settling the situation of the elements of the toppled Assad regime does not negate subsequent legal accountability. The goal of the settlement is to control situations, prevent chaos, and stabilize the current situation until these individuals can be dealt with by the relevant authorities. Those with criminal or torture cases should be held accountable through judicial institutions.
So far, no judicial ruling has been issued regarding the accountability of leaders from the previous regime who have been arrested or reached settlements. Among the most notable individuals who reached a settlement is the former commander of the regime’s Republican Guard, Talal Makhlouf, who is currently under European Union sanctions for the crimes he committed or participated in against civilians, and has faced British sanctions since 2015 and American sanctions since 2017.
On February 7, protests erupted in the Tadamon neighborhood in southern Damascus after the visit of Fadi Ahmad, known as “Fadi Saqr,” to the area. He is one of those responsible for the “Tadamon massacre,” followed by news of his “settlement” with the new authorities, claiming he is a member of the “Committee for National Reconciliation.” However, Enab Baladi could not verify the accuracy of this information.
The website “Zaman al-Wasl” observed Fadi Saqr’s continued public activity in several areas, boasting about his position as a lawyer in the Damascus branch of the Bar Association, without facing any legal or union repercussions. He has video recordings showing him supervising the release of several detainees from the Syrian coastal region, an attempt that activists considered a way to polish his image in front of the local public.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Interior continues to announce the arrest of those involved in the bloodshed of the Syrian people, including those responsible for the Tadamon massacre, and Major General Atef Najib, who held the position of head of the Political Security branch in Daraa. His violations against the people sparked the events and protests that began in the governorate in 2011, yet there are no official clarifications regarding the method of accountability or subsequent procedures.
Enab Baladi contacted the public relations department in the Syrian government to obtain clarifications about the reasons or obstacles delaying the announcement of “List No. 1,” and whether there is coordination with human rights and humanitarian organizations that have expressed their willingness to provide lists and assistance, but received no response until this report was published.
A list of 16,200 individuals… Willingness to collaborate
On December 23, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) stated that it managed to compile a list containing the names of 16,200 individuals from the previous regime involved in serious crimes and violations against Syrians.
Among this list are 6,724 individuals from official forces, including the army and security agencies, and 9,476 individuals from auxiliary forces, consisting of militias and supporting groups that fought alongside the official forces.
The SNHR stated in its announcement that significant challenges face the accountability process, requiring focused legal and judicial efforts on high-ranking leaders, specifically those in the first and second tier of the army and security agencies, considering them the primary perpetrators responsible for planning violations and overseeing their direct implementation.
The statement emphasized the importance of guaranteeing the full right of victims to file lawsuits against those responsible for their suffering, regardless of their ranks or positions, whether they were direct executors or supervisors. There should be no alternative to holding those guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes accountable.
The director of the SNHR, Fadel Abdul Ghani, told Enab Baladi that the network is willing to collaborate with the government and the judicial body to ensure that the memoranda and prosecution operations comply with the law; however, there has been no communication from the government or the establishment of a relationship concerning this file or other legal and human rights files that the network has offered to collaborate and coordinate on.
Abdul Ghani considered that announcing a list of war criminals is a very challenging task that requires an investigative team and starting from scratch. Thus, it is possible to rely on the expertise available within organizations that have been active for many years and possess a database and information, which necessitates the government’s openness to those organizations.
He believes that the government needs financial resources and the allocation of a dedicated team to work on the list. Nonetheless, it may not produce the list in the appropriate and accurate manner because it is a challenging task, which may explain the delay due to either a lack of cooperation with organizations or the inherent difficulty of the task itself.
Abdul Ghani added that government cooperation with human rights organizations facilitates the process of opening the file of accountability and pursuing violators of violations since the foundation is present, and there is work that organizations have accomplished over the years, expressing hope for greater cooperation and coordination after the formation of the government.
He believes that having a clear list of published names would alleviate fear and panic among “regime loyalists or those in the gray area” and would not leave room for unofficial pursuits outside of the list.
“The solution is what Syrians want”
Demands for accountability are renewed with any situation of tension and clashes in Syria, especially after the bloody clashes witnessed in the Syrian coastal region in early March, resulting in the deaths of hundreds outside the law, sparked by an ambush by pro-regime gunmen targeting security elements in the new government.
The head of the UN investigation team regarding Syria, who is working on gathering evidence about the atrocities committed in the country, Robert Petit, announced in December 2024 that he had requested permission from the new authorities to start fieldwork.
He confirmed that after investigations conducted remotely since 2016, “hundreds of detention centers have been documented… every security center, every military base, every prison had its place of detention or mass grave,” adding that it will take a long time “before we know the full extent of the crimes committed.”
In response to a question about whether criminal trials will take place in Syria at the national level or at the international level, such as in the International Criminal Court, Petit said that it depends on what Syrians want. There are thousands of perpetrators and a state apparatus entirely dedicated to committing mass atrocities, making it an incredible challenge to determine the meaning of accountability.
In Petit’s view, those most responsible, the architects of the regime, should be held criminally charged, but for others, the ways in which society deals with this issue after the conflict varies. He considered that the best solution is the one decided by Syrians themselves.
For example, Rwanda attempted to utilize traditional forms to resolve disputes to prosecute 1.2 million perpetrators over the course of a decade. Other countries, like Cambodia, simply try to bury the past and pretend it never happened, according to Petit.
Security and political necessity
With the moment of the collapse of the Syrian regime, the focus and demands shifted toward the application of justice, and both internal and external voices called for the need to begin transitional justice. Regarding the form of transitional justice in Syria, al-Sharaa mentioned in an interview that there is a very important thin thread between transitional justice and civil peace, linking the improvement of the economic situation and the activity of any economic investment in Syria to the existence of a fair judiciary and a state of security stability.
US Republican Senator Joe Wilson stated on March 25 that he is in the process of establishing an independent transitional justice mechanism for the victims of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, pledging that he will lead efforts in the US Congress to help create an independent transitional justice mechanism for the “brutal” Assad regime victims.
Wilson mentioned that the ousted Syrian regime had arrested Nadim Khadija, a civilian from the town of Salamiya, and killed him under torture “because he dreamed of a free Syria”, pointing out that “Syria may have triumphed over its tormentors, but this victory will not be complete without real accountability”.
Researcher in religious movements and director of the “Syrian Memory” project, Abdel Rahman al-Haj, believes that the launch of transitional justice requires the establishment of a “Transitional Justice Authority” or “Council” through a legislative council that issues a law in this regard, and the head of the authority and its members must be appointed by the president. Since no legislative council has been appointed and no law has been issued, the application of transitional justice has not begun, which means that the legal framework has not yet been formed.
The researcher told Enab Baladi that there are necessary measures that should be taken even without launching the transitional justice program. These include the arrest of known criminals from the remnants of the regime from the army, security agencies, and the “Shabiha” (national defense forces).
Al-Haj added that there are objective reasons that prevented the launch of the transitional justice program from the start, as the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, should have implemented a general “amnesty” except for the criminals to disarm without resistance, in exchange for preventing sectarian retaliation, as well as unifying factions and establishing a new army, restricting weapons to the state, ensuring security, and uniting the country. He believes that all these prevented the possibility of launching a transitional justice program.
The researcher mentioned that a list of senior perpetrators already exists but is not yet announced. He added that there is no influence on the transitional justice file from neighboring countries or from international parties, as there are no indicators, events, or statements leading to this.
He considered that transitional justice and accountability for war criminals in Syria is a sensitive and dangerous file upon which civil peace and the establishment of a stable state depend. The events in the coastal region in early March 2025 are a testament to this, pointing out the intense anger and open wounds left by the Assad regime, stating that “the situation is akin to a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment intensely.” For this reason, hastening the start of the transitional justice program represents a security and political necessity.
The process of transitional justice is lengthy and complicated, associated with long-term efforts that require time to launch successive pathways. It also needs time frames for achievement, and there is often a gap in achievements, as accomplishments are relative, with distinctive features in each experience of justice and qualitative contributions through creative legal, political, and social thinking, according to a report issued by the Syrian Dialogue Center on February 11.