A human rights report calls for the purging of institutions in Syria to ensure justice news

The Syrian Network for Human Rights called for the exclusion of all those involved in serious violations from state institutions in Syria, stressing that institutional reform is not a selective political option, but rather a legal and moral necessity.

The network stressed that this comes to ensure that crimes are not repeated and to enhance citizens’ confidence during the transitional phase following the fall of the regime on December 8, 2024.

The network said in an analytical report entitled “The Legal and Moral Necessity to Exclude Criminals from State Institutions in the Transitional Phase in Syria” that true transitional justice requires accountability and a comprehensive cleansing of the structures and personalities that have entrenched tyranny.

The network explained that unless this is done, Syrians will face a new cycle of impunity and revenge that threatens the path of state building.

The report emphasized that the administrative exclusion of those involved is not an act of revenge, but rather an application of the principle of “guaranteeing non-recurrence” stipulated in international law, and that ignoring this requirement weakens the transitional process and opens the door to the penetration of impunity into the institutions of future Syria.

The report monitored the causes and patterns of systematic violations used by the Assad regime and its regime’s apparatuses, including the judiciary, media, and security forces, as tools of repression.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights database, the number of civilian casualties during the years of conflict reached more than 200,000, in addition to 160,000 cases of arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance, and more than 45,000 deaths under torture.

The network also documented the implementation of 217 chemical attacks, 254 cluster munition attacks, and the dropping of about 82,000 explosive barrels, and indicated the resulting displacement of about 14 million Syrians inside and outside the country.

The report indicated the involvement of 16,200 people in these violations, including security and military leaders, judges, media professionals, and economic and artistic figures, warning that keeping these people in state institutions perpetuates impunity and threatens the path of transitional justice.

The report proposed a gradual model for administrative scrutiny, starting with the permanent exclusion of directly involved leaders, leading to an individual review of lower-ranking employees, stressing that cleansing institutions is the basis for building the rule of law and restoring popular confidence.