Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, issued a statement on Tuesday declaring that the group’s “Department of Military Operations” would hold accountable those responsible for torturing and killing Syrians. He emphasized that they would not hesitate to pursue criminals, including military and security officers involved in such crimes, and would seek to have them prosecuted wherever they have fled.
Sharaa clarified that HTS would soon release an initial list of individuals implicated in torture and crimes against Syrians, and urged the public to help by providing information on those involved. He added that rewards would be offered to anyone who could provide useful intelligence on senior army and security officers responsible for war crimes. He also stressed the group’s commitment to granting amnesty to those who had been conscripted into military service and had not committed atrocities, while reinforcing that the blood of martyrs and the rights of detainees would not be forgotten.
Despite these statements, activists noted that accountability for such crimes should come through proper judicial processes and trials, not unilateral actions by armed factions.
In a related development, HTS and other opposition factions took control of Damascus on Sunday, following the flight of former regime president Bashar al-Assad to Russia. This followed a military operation called “Deterring Aggression,” which had seen opposition forces capture key cities such as Homs, Hama, and Aleppo.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
