New Government Policies Worsen Conditions of Refugees in Lebanon

Refugees in Lebanon are facing an impossible choice: stay in an increasingly repressive and hostile environment in Lebanon, or face persecution and violence in returning to Syria. In late June, Lebanese President Michel Aoun told a visiting U.S. delegation that “Syrian territory, except for Idlib (province) and its surrounding area, is now stable, making it […]

“Their only sin was to want to live in dignity:” Urgent Action is Needed in Idlib

  In June, SJAC’s Documentation Team Lead crossed the border from southern Turkey into Northwest Syria in order to spend the Eid holiday with her family. The Team Lead manages SJAC’s field team and network of documentation partners, and she is well-aware of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib, where indiscriminate airstrikes are placing over three […]

Fires fuel retribution and paranoia in Northeast Syria

  After years of drought, heavy rainfalls this year had raised hopes for a bountiful harvest. Yet across Northern Syria, farmers are watching helplessly as months of toil and their source of livelihood burn to ashes. For many farmers and local communities already suffering from high rates of food insecurity and debt, the destruction of […]

SJAC and Partners Urge Caution with regard to International Tribunal limited to ISIS Crimes

On Monday, representatives from eleven European countries met in Stockholm to discuss the possibility of establishing an international tribunal to prosecute ISIS members. Initiative for the meeting and proposed tribunal has been led by the Swedish government and was lobbied for across Europe by Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg in recent weeks. SJAC supports the […]

Report Release: An Analysis of Classified Syrian Security Sector Documents

  The highest levels of the Syrian government were privy to the unjustified detention of women and children, authorized lethal force against civilians, and actively discriminated against the Kurdish minority. SJAC’s latest report, “Walls Have Ears, An Analysis of Classified Syrian Security Sector Documents,” is based upon SJAC’s analysis of 5,000 pages of documents obtained […]

Families of ISIS Missing Deserve Truth

The ‘Coalition of Families of Those Kidnapped by ISIS’, a new organization of Syrian families based in Paris, held a joint news conference with Human Rights Watch on May 14 calling on the anti-ISIS coalition to create a formal mechanism to address the issue of missing persons in Northeast Syria. The families in the coalition […]

The Astana Process Has Failed Idlib

Over the past two weeks, Russia and the Syrian government have significantly escalated airstrikes on the de-escalation zone in Northwestern Syria, pounding the last rebel-held territories in southern Idlib and Northern Hama. The humanitarian costs of these attacks have already been devastating. The Syrian government, once again, is fighting with an utter disregard for civilian […]

Meeting the Challenges of Northeastern Syria

In recent months, discussions on Northeastern Syria have centered on one question: who will control the region after a United States military draw down? The answer will undoubtedly shape the future of the region. Yet as these discussions carry on, local communities are facing a number of immediate challenges that, if ignored, will irreversibly hinder […]

Lessons for Syria from Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission

  Since the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011, Tunisia has embarked on the long process of reconciliation and transitional justice. This past week, 8 years after protests first swept through the streets of Tunis, Tunisians marked a major milestone in this effort with the release of the Truth and […]