Syria’s Transition Faces a Test of Justice, Rights and Reconciliation

The Commission welcomed its growing engagement with the Syrian Government, including access to the country, discussions with senior officials and dialogue on transitional justice.

Syria has made meaningful progress as it approaches two years since the fall of its former government. The country's future will depend on whether justice reaches every community and human rights become part of daily governance. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria told the Human Rights Council that rebuilding institutions while confronting years of atrocities is an immense task, and warned that selective accountability could deepen grievances, weaken public trust and place national reconciliation at risk.

Justice Must Cover Past and Recent Violence

The Commission welcomed its growing engagement with the Syrian Government, including access to the country, discussions with senior officials and dialogue on transitional justice. This cooperation has allowed investigators to raise potential human rights concerns before they escalate, though the limited number of trials initiated so far shows how much work remains before survivors and affected families can see meaningful accountability.

Every person responsible for grave violations must face investigation regardless of identity, affiliation or the community of the victims, since international law does not allow justice to be applied selectively. The Commission called for stronger action following the violence along Syria's coast and in western areas during early 2025, the deadly events in Suwayda in July 2025 and the January 2026 hostilities involving the Syrian Democratic Forces. Hundreds of people remain missing after the January clashes, leaving families without answers and creating another painful obstacle to reconciliation.

Deaths in detention, arrests of activists, online harassment and persistent hate speech continue to raise concern. Women activists face threats and gender-based abuse, while fragile civic space may discourage Syrians from taking part in public life. Renewed violence in Suwayda during late August, coupled with unresolved difficulties surrounding school examinations, shows how insecurity continues to disrupt ordinary lives and limit access to essential services.

Israeli Operations and Northeast Detention Raise Alarm

Israeli military activity inside Syria has become increasingly sustained, with ground incursions, patrols, raids and searches causing residents to flee their homes. By September, Israeli forces had detained 49 people on Syrian territory, including two children, with some reportedly held without contact with the outside world. The Commission said these circumstances raise fears of torture and ill-treatment, warning that violations of human rights and international humanitarian law may amount to war crimes.

Investigators are also examining allegations of serious abuses in Aleppo and northeastern Syria during hostilities between government forces and the SDF. These inquiries include reported violations by the SDF and the alleged killing of detainees, even as the Commission acknowledged steps taken by the Government to reduce harm during the January fighting.

More than 2,000 people, most of them women and children allegedly connected to Da'esh members, remain arbitrarily detained in worsening conditions at Al Rawj camp. The Commission renewed its call for the camp's immediate closure and for foreign governments to repatriate their nationals. More than 100 foreign children are also detained in the northeast, some since 2019, despite international standards requiring child detention to be used only as a last resort and children associated with armed groups to be treated as victims who need rehabilitation.

Human Rights Must Shape Syria's New Foundations

The Commission expressed profound concern over the forcible transfer to Iraq earlier this year of more than 5,700 men and boys from over 60 nationalities, including Syrians, reportedly carried out by United States forces. It called for swift action that protects their fundamental rights and resolves the uncertainty surrounding their situation.

Syria's political and economic scars, continuing instability, gender-based harms and weak protection for civic participation cannot be separated from the work of rebuilding the country. National reconciliation will require credible institutions, equal justice, answers for families of missing people and safeguards that prevent old patterns of violence from returning. International support can help Syria preserve its current momentum, though lasting progress will ultimately be measured by whether every Syrian can live with dignity, security and confidence that serious abuses will never be repeated.