Calls for justice and accountability after Assad’s fall

Syrian officials are promising justice for crimes under Assad’s rule. But it is a tall order, and many have lost all sorts of things in the civil war. Sebastian Usher met with people in Damascus for whom justice is central to their vision of Syria’s future.

On the outskirts of Douma, one of the most war-ravaged Damascus villages, in a living room next to the stove, Umm Mazen recounts the 12 years she desperately wanted the stories of her two sons, who were arrested in the early years. . of unrest and civil war, and swallowed up in the security of the Assad era.

For his eldest son, Mazen, he received a death certificate, but for Abu Hadi, no evidence of him was ever revealed.

Her third son, Ahmed, spent three years in custody, including eight months in the red prison for political prisoners in the so-called brutal Saydnaya prison.

With his front teeth jammed with the torturer’s hammer, he remembers a time when he believes he heard his brother Mazen’s voice responding to roll calls in the prison, but nothing else.

What kind of justice does Umm Mazen want her family to lose?

“There must be divine justice, from God,” he says.

“I saw local men bringing shabiha (armed government agent) to be killed.

“I told them: ‘Don’t kill him.

“Two of my children died – or maybe they will die, but there are thousands of other young men who were victims.

“I pray to God that Bashar [al-Assad] he lives in a secret prison and Russia, which was protecting him, cannot help him.

“I pray to God that he will be buried somewhere in secret and that he will not be remembered – as he left our boys in his prisons.”

Lawyer Hussein Issa called for justice for many people accused of political crimes under the Assads.

He faced constant pressure from the authorities for his publicity, but he persevered and was able to save some of his clients from being crushed by the safety wheels.

But for those who were sent to special criminal courts, there was usually nothing they could do.

The law on terrorism looked increasingly dark in Syria as the civil war continued.

Now, with a mountain on the outskirts of Damascus looking out the window of his dirty, smoke-filled office, the 54-year-old lawyer says he believes many of the judges who were loyal to the Assad regime should be fired. the charges against them.

But some of that time, he says, could have taken part in the new charges.

Referring to the huge challenge of trying to provide justice for the future over the past 50 years, Mr. Issa says that establishing a judicial system that can do this is an important task for the Syrian authorities.

“If the system is not good, the future of this new country will be bad.

“We don’t know how bad it will get, we are already afraid that some parties may cause conflicts and conflicts.

“If we have a strong system and government, then we will not be afraid of these things.

“If we don’t have it, we’ll be scared. However, being an optimist by nature, I think the new regime will be better.”

The largest building in the Syrian capital that houses the Ministry of Justice has been closed for weeks after the fall of Assad.

Now, groups of lawyers have gathered in lofts and sheds before the courts and tribunals opened.

In his office on the fifth floor, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Khitam Haddad, said that the cases of conspiracy and conspiracy will also be answered, but the work of dealing with the cases that happened during the previous administration will not be completed at this time. .

With his large desk, heavy with government papers, he says he has been working as a judge since 2013.

He was appointed as the deputy minister of justice in 2023. Currently, he is still in his position.

He said: “I felt that I have a responsibility in this matter.

“It is necessary for the work to continue, for the judges to return to their work and for the courts to return, because as a Syrian I want my work to continue and I want this victory to continue, so that the people no longer have anything to fear.

“I want to send real and genuine messages of encouragement, not just talk.”

But some lawyers have already been affected by the decision of the government authorities to establish a supervisory body for the Bar Association without voting on it.

In the petition, they said that such a system would replace one authority with another.

Currently, the laws and judicial systems of the Assad era are still in place, including the criminal law.

It will take a long time for the cases of any of the accused under the repealed jurisdiction to be prosecuted.

The new officials have told the Syrian people not to take matters into their own hands, as videos have surfaced of brief briefings being given to some of the former officials.

There has been violence and arrests – and some of those who fled across the border to Lebanon or Iraq have been turned back.

But there is still a big question as to whether the justice system – long a tool of oppression – can be reformed to deal with this huge problem.

On a hill above Damascus, Syrians, young and old, are currently resting freely – intoxicated by the cold winter air – in a place they were barred from by security forces for more than a decade.

In the restaurants and kiosks that have sprung up in the weeks since Assad was toppled, they watch the city unfold before their eyes – with their dark memories and the promise of another future, where justice and accountability can be allowed. to play a part.