The issue of Syria’s missing persons remains one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges to emerge from years of conflict.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch released a report outlining the steps needed to achieve comprehensive justice in Syria.
The report includes a set of core recommendations directed at the Syrian authorities, their international partners, and all states. Chief among them are:
- Prioritizing comprehensive justice: Supporting independent and fair justice pathways for victims and survivors of international crimes committed during the conflict—regardless of the identity of the perpetrators—by involving victims, survivors, civil society, and experts in the design and implementation of domestic and international accountability mechanisms.
- Strengthening cooperation with existing international justice mechanisms: Ensuring effective and reciprocal cooperation between Syrian authorities and relevant international bodies, including UN agencies; the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM); the Independent International Commission of Inquiry; the International Court of Justice; and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons along with its Investigation and Identification Team. This also includes cooperation with national authorities in countries pursuing Syria-related cases under universal jurisdiction or other cross-border legal frameworks.
- Legislative reforms and accession to the International Criminal Court: Pursuing timely and comprehensive legal reforms, including the development of an improved detention system and support for prosecuting perpetrators of international crimes. This should take place alongside Syria’s accession to the International Criminal Court and the granting of jurisdiction over past crimes.
- Building political will and partnerships that support justice: Calling on states that support Syria-related international mechanisms—such as the IIIM and the Independent Institution for Missing Persons—to hold regular meetings, develop practical options for achieving justice, and coordinate with Syrian authorities, civil society, the UN, and other stakeholders.
A Post-Assad Context and Legal Obligations
The organisation stressed that the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the end of more than six decades of Baath Party rule create an unprecedented opportunity to end decades of impunity for grave crimes.
Building a future grounded in respect for human rights, it said, requires a comprehensive approach to violations committed by all parties over 14 years of the Syrian revolution—demands Syrians have consistently voiced at home and abroad, both before and after the regime’s collapse.
Human Rights Watch emphasised the obligation of the new authorities, under international law, to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for serious abuses against the Syrian people. Achieving justice, it affirmed, is essential for protecting victims, survivors, and their families, and is a fundamental pillar for stabilising post-conflict states and ending cycles of violence rooted in impunity.
Syrian Authorities’ Steps Toward Accountability and the Challenges of Domestic Justice
The organisation noted that the Syrian authorities have announced their intention to move forward on accountability—currently limited to crimes committed by the former regime—by incorporating transitional justice into the constitutional declaration and establishing two local committees tasked with addressing violations.
It also welcomed the case brought jointly by the Netherlands and Canada before the International Court of Justice against Assad for violating the Convention Against Torture. However, it stressed that while these steps are significant, they require further concrete measures to strengthen justice for all victims.
Human Rights Watch underscored that primary responsibility for achieving justice lies with national authorities. Domestic trials, it said, can be transformative in uncovering the truth about crimes and prosecuting those responsible, given their direct impact on affected communities.
Yet the organisation warned that limited capacity or lack of political will may obstruct these efforts. It underscored the importance of shaping future policies based on a realistic assessment of the potential to achieve independent and impartial justice.
Learning from International Justice and the Role of Civil Society
The organisation noted that international justice experiences demonstrate significant diversity in accountability mechanisms—their jurisdiction, composition, relationship between international and domestic systems, and funding—and that no single model fits all contexts.
Still, lessons from other regions, including the Middle East and North Africa, can offer valuable insights into suitable options and challenges for the Syrian context.
Despite the difficult phase ahead, Human Rights Watch affirmed that Syrian and international civil society organisations—supported by various states and international bodies—have established a solid foundation for accountability. The report draws on years of Human Rights Watch documentation of abuses in Syria, in addition to interviews conducted between January and August 2025 with civil society representatives and victims’ groups.
The memorandum explains that achieving comprehensive, Syrian-led justice requires long-term political commitment. Current efforts focus primarily on individual criminal accountability through independent and fair trials—one element of transitional justice, which also includes truth-seeking, reparations, preserving memory, and guarantees of non-recurrence. It emphasised the need to create new institutions that address victims’ needs, including the ongoing impact of crimes such as enforced disappearance.
The report concludes that any efforts to achieve justice—whether criminal or transitional—must be implemented within a broader framework of rule-of-law reforms. Only such an approach can ensure that the future Syrian state is built on solid foundations that uphold human rights, and that prosecutions for serious international crimes proceed in accordance with international standards.
