8 min read Justice Policy
A First Step Towards Transitional Justice in Syria

A First Step Towards Transitional Justice in Syria

On May 17, President Al-Sharaa signed Decree No. 20 regarding the formation of a National Commission for Transitional Justice (NCTJ). The Decree provides that the NCTJ will be responsible for “uncovering the truth about grave violations caused by the defunct regime.” It appoints the head of the NCTJ and tasks it with forming a working team and internal regulations within 30 days. While establishing the NCTJ is a positive first step towards accountability, the Decree only provides a basic sketch as to Syria’s approach to transitional justice. In order to prioritize comprehensive justice for all Syrians and to maximize buy-in across the country, the NCTJ should take steps to engage in national dialogue in each of Syria’s fourteen governates before settling on a particular mechanism.  

The creation of the NCTJ was foreshadowed by Article 49 of the Constitutional Declaration of March 13, 2025, which provided that a transitional justice commission shall be established. The Declaration provides that the mechanisms [plural] established by the commission should be “consultative” and “victim-centered”. They should respect the right to know the truth and justice for victims and survivors.  

The Constitutional Declaration does not provide limitations on the victims and survivors who may seek justice. Further, it recognizes international crimes to be prosecuted, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It permits the prosecution of such crimes even if they were committed prior to being criminalized under Syrian law, but only for crimes committed by the former regime. Decree No. 20 fortifies this limitation by restricting the NCTJ’s mandate to holding responsible those who committed “grave violations caused by the defunct regime”. This language suggests that justice will be limited to crimes committed by the Assad government. Whereas the Assad government committed the large majority of international crimes during the conflict, there were numerous other parties who committed grave crimes. Victims of these crimes are equally deserving of justice and limiting the NCTJ’s work to one perpetrator group would be unfair to these victims.   

Other transitional justice processes have had similar weaknesses. For example, the prosecutor of the Rwanda tribunal was removed after attempting to investigate grave crimes committed by the rebel group that brought an end to the genocide. Likewise, the Cambodia tribunal’s temporal scope was limited to prevent consideration of the U.S. carpet bombing campaign. But this does not justify a selective consideration of the crimes committed during the Syrian conflict. A failure to come to terms with the full array of violations throughout the Syrian conflict could impede a peaceful transition. Victims of bombing campaigns of hospitals by international actors deserve justice. As do victims summarily executed by ISIS or tortured by the Syrian National Army. 

To be sure, 30 days is too limited a time to fully contend with the above issues. Rather the NCTJ should use this time to establish a working group with adequate representation of Syria’s diversity. It should further establish a timeline for public consultation throughout the country before submitting a public report with recommendations as to a mechanism or mechanisms to obtain comprehensive justice for all Syrians. 

As a first step, the NCTJ should create a plan to preserve, digitize, and analyze the Assad government’s intelligence documents. Millions of documents were abandoned by the Assad government in former military and intelligence facilities and will be the basis for all future justice processes. Ensuring that they are searchable for justice processes, and in the future, made publicly available to the Syrian people should be a priority. The NCTJ should work with existing civil society organizations with capacity to work on these documents in order to save time and money. 

For the NCTJ to properly conduct its work, the Syrian Government will also need to engage in reform of state institutions to allow a functioning and fair system of justice. The following recommendations are in line with this imperative. 

  • Building the capacity of the Syrian justice system: The Syrian Government has expressed a strong preference for Syrian-led justice processes. However, this will require Syria to conduct extensive reforms of its existing system as well as invest in the capacity of legal professionals in the country. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) should take the following steps:  
    • Reactivate the court system: Initiate a plan to reopen all of Syria’s existing courts to allow the justice system to function. Currently, only family and civil courts are working. 
    • Inventory of legal personnel: Conduct an inventory of legal expertise within the country. This could be conducted partially via surveys of existing bar associations and should assess the number of qualified lawyers within the country, including those with specific experience, such as criminal prosecution and defense. The ministry should likewise create a registry of current judges.  
    • Vetting and lustration: Draft a plan to assess the fitness of current judges to continue in their roles. This should include a vetting and lustration process. Additionally, the MOJ should appoint a group of legal experts to draft a ‘bench book’ for Syrian judges to delineate the practical details and relevant jurisprudence that are not in the procedural codes. This would help to standardize processes within the country and could also explain new provisions relevant to international crimes. All judges who pass vetting and choose to continue in their roles should be required to undergo onboarding training on the new bench book before returning to their positions.  
    • Fair trial guarantees: The Constitutional Declaration provides that: “All rights and freedoms stipulated in international human rights treaties, charters and agreements ratified by the Syrian Arab Republic are considered an integral part of this Constitutional Declaration.” Syria is a state party to the ICCPR and the MOJ should review the Syrian penal code to ensure that all provisions align with the ICCPR, particularly Art. 14 re: fair trial guarantees. The penal code should also be amended to criminalize international crimes. 
  • Prison reform: The prison system should be reformed to ensure that prisoners and those awaiting trial are treated humanely.  
    • End enforced disappearances and improve current conditions: There are reports that new arrestees, including former Assad government officials, are being held incommunicado. The Syrian government should work with the ICRC to ensure that the conditions of current prisoners are monitored and that they are able to maintain contact with loved ones. Family and lawyer visits are fundamental rights owed to all detainees. The MOJ should maintain lists of detainees and make these publicly available.  
    • Vetting and lustration: The MOJ should create an up-to-date registry of all prisons and staff. Prisons associated with the most serious crimes of the Assad government should be permanently closed, with Sednaya prison preserved to be turned into a public museum. The MOJ should propose a transparent vetting and lustration procedure for all continuing prison staff, as well as develop a standardized set of procedures for prison operations, with required onboarding training.   

These tasks are intended for the near term only. In the medium term, the NCTJ and MOJ should also address other justice concerns, including: 

  • Develop proposals to address property restitution, other forms of reparations, and institutional reforms (including vetting and lustration of former regime officials outside of the judiciary and prison systems).  
  • Preserve the civil registry and appoint an official to update it based on agreed upon standards.  
  • Create a standardized system for national IDs, including the issuance of new IDs when necessary.  
  • Preserve existing property deeds and create a property court system to resolve conflicting claims to title.  

A National Commission for the Missing 

Also on May 17, President Al Sharaa signed Decree No. 19 on a National Commission for the Missing (NCM). The Decree created the NCM to reveal the fate of missing persons in Syria and to ensure justice for their families. It appoints the head of the NCM and tasks it with forming a working team and internal regulations within 30 days. Decree No. 19 is less restrictive than Decree No. 20 in that it does not specify particular groups of missing or perpetrator groups. Therefore, it’s scope may be inclusive of the estimated tens of thousands rendered missing by the Assad government, as well as those rendered missing by ISIS and other groups. 

It tasks the NCM with researching and revealing the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared persons, documenting cases, establishing a national database, and providing legal and humanitarian support to their families. These goals are responsive to the grievances of families who have long suffered from the disappearance of their loved ones. Preserving documentation of missing persons should be a first priority as these would feed into a national database.  

The NCM and the NCTJ will need to establish protocols for the sharing of evidence as information about Missing Persons will also be relevant to the prosecution of atrocity crimes, particularly those related to detention.  

Furthermore, the NCM and MOJ should take the following steps:  

  • Preserve mass grave sites: In the months since the fall of Assad, families, journalists, and CSOs have conducted ad hoc exhumation of graves in the hopes of identifying remains. These actions damage vital evidence and complicate future identification processes. The NCM should create and begin the implementation of a plan to preserve mass grave sites. 
    • Centralize exhumations: Draft a law for consideration by parliament to criminalize the tampering of grave sites and clarifying one central authority within the MOJ to authorize exhumations. Until a comprehensive strategy is in place, exhumations should only be approved in emergency cases, such as when remains are visible on the surface or need to be removed to allow for urgent reconstruction. 
    • Publicity campaign: Conduct a public campaign urging communities to protect grave sites and educating them on the importance of these sites to identification processes. Members of the NCM should conduct outreach on local tv and radio channels. The NCM should also coordinate with families of missing persons to support and participate in such outreach.  
  • Registration process: Syrian families across the country should have the opportunity to register their missing loved one in person at offices or mobile clinics. The NCM should propose a plan for such an effort, including:  
    • Registration form: Develop a standardized form to record the cases of missing persons as well as training materials for those who will conduct interviews with families. The registration process should happen via interviews with trained staff rather than via an online form. All cases should be stored within a centralized database.  
    • Outreach plan: Draft a plan to conduct a nation-wide registration process, accompanied by robust outreach to families to encourage them to participate, educate them on the possibilities of missing persons investigations, and assure them that they will not face reprisal for openly discussing their missing loved one. The NCM should lay out specific plans as to where registration offices and mobile clinics are needed, and how many staff will be required in each area. The NCM could propose recruiting and training staff or collaborate with the ICRC and existing Civil Society Organizations able to lend their own personnel to this effort.  
    • Legal status: Draft a law for consideration by parliament which creates a unique legal status for registered missing persons. This would allow families who have completed the registration process to settle inheritance, child custody, and other legal matters while waiting to learn the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.   

In the medium-term, the NCM will need to create a plan for a comprehensive investigative process, culminating in the exhumation of graves and identification and return of remains.  

Conclusion: 

The creation of two separate entities is a helpful move towards the essential goal of transitional justice. As noted in the recommendations above, public outreach and consultation will be key to their success. The Constitutional Declaration recognizes that victims and survivors have a right to know the truth and to justice. As such, the NCTJ and NCM must keep these principles in mind as they take the first steps towards comprehensive justice for all Syrians. 

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