“Unveiling Truths: The Imperative of Safeguarding Evidence of Mass Atrocities in Syria”

The interim Syrian authorities must promptly initiate actions to secure and preserve proof of atrocities carried out under the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, which includes vital governmental and intelligence documents as well as the locations of atrocities and mass burial sites, as stated today by the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

The interim authorities should urgently collaborate and coordinate with pertinent UN entities, Syrian civil organizations, and international forensic teams to secure, maintain, and safeguard this evidence. The documentation of crimes left behind will be crucial in determining the fate and whereabouts of the countless Syrians who have been forcibly vanished by the notorious security and intelligence apparatus of the former government, as well as in investigating and prosecuting those responsible for violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“With each passing moment of inaction, the likelihood increases that a family may never learn the fate of their missing loved one, and that an official accountable for heinous crimes may evade justice,” commented Shadi Haroun, ADMSP program manager.

Between December 10 and 20, 2024, researchers and investigators from the three organizations visited Damascus, covering 10 detention centers, 7 mass grave sites, and a military court.

“After decades of brutal oppression, injustice, and impunity, Syrians finally glimpse a sliver of hope for justice,” remarked Aya Majzoub, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. “This is a crucial moment for Syria’s transitional authorities to take decisive action and guarantee the preservation of evidence as a foundational aspect of accountability and reconciliation.”

“This is a crucial moment for Syria’s transitional authorities to take decisive action and guarantee the preservation of evidence as a foundational aspect of accountability and reconciliation.

Aya Majzoub, Deputy MENA Director, Amnesty International

At all the visited detention centers, the researchers noted that official documents were frequently left unsecured, with significant portions having been either looted or destroyed. Individuals from neighborhoods surrounding some of these facilities, former detainees, and members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) reported that in certain instances, security and intelligence personnel incinerated essential information before fleeing as the Assad regime collapsed.

In several cases, they stated that armed groups that gained control over the facilities, as well as detainees recently released, burned and pillaged documents. The researchers also witnessed ordinary citizens, including families of missing detainees and some journalists, taking away certain documents.

These documents may contain critical information regarding the framework of the Syrian state’s security and intelligence apparatus, identification of those accountable for serious offenses, and specifics about the detainees held in those places.

ADMSP, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch presented these concerns in a meeting with officials from the HTS-affiliated Syrian Salvation Government political affairs department in Damascus on December 16. During this meeting, officials committed to enhancing security around critical facilities.

After promptly securing these sites and ensuring that remaining evidence is untampered, the transitional authorities should collaborate with and provide unrestricted access to international fact-finding and evidence-gathering bodies formed by the United Nations. This should include the Independent, Impartial Investigative Mechanism (IIIM), the International Institute for Missing Persons (IIMP), and the Commission of Inquiry on Syria (CoI), alongside Syrian Civil Society organizations experienced in evidence analysis.

The Investigative Mechanism must act rapidly to safeguard evidence, including by establishing a formal agreement with transitional authorities to operate lawfully and transparently in Syria. It should prioritize the immediate preservation, documentation, and protection of mass grave sites, archives, and other critical evidence. Likewise, the Missing Persons Institute could assume a coordinating role to unify scattered efforts by Syrian and international civil society groups aimed at securing evidence that could clarify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared.

By spearheading a collaborative and systematic evidence preservation initiative, both organizations can ensure that essential documentation is protected, establishing a foundation for accountability and justice. Governments should lend their support to efforts aimed at securing and safeguarding evidence by providing needed resources and funding.

During the discussion with the transitional authorities, the organizations also highlighted the significance of safeguarding mass grave sites nationwide. Researchers toured four mass grave locations on the outskirts of Damascus and relayed the coordinates of those areas to the appropriate authorities. At all four locations, the researchers witnessed local inhabitants and families of the disappeared attempting to excavate some remains. In one mass grave site, researchers observed locals unearthing a leg still bearing flesh, indicating that it had been buried recently.

In 2017, a report by Amnesty International that detailed mass executions and exterminations at Seydnaya prison revealed that the remains of detainees executed or who perished from torture and inhumane detention conditions were buried in mass graves, including at one of the sites visited by researchers in December 2024. Under the previous regime, authorities infrequently returned victims’ remains to family members and often failed to inform them of their loved ones’ demise.

The administration of the ousted President Bashar al-Assad employed extrajudicial killings alongside other unlawful tactics, such as arbitrary arrests, deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and the starvation of the civilian populace, to forcibly displace inhabitants of opposition-held regions during the war.

Extrajudicial killings and summary executions constitute seriousviolations of global human rights legislation can constitute crimes against humanity when executed as part of an organized or extensive assault against the civilian population, in accordance with or in pursuit of governmental or organizational policies to perpetrate such an “attack.” Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have chronicled the systematic employment of torture under the former regime as a crime against humanity.

The transitional authorities in Syria ought to unequivocally and publicly pledge to secure, gather, and protect evidence, including from mass burial sites and governmental records and archives, which will be crucial in providing the families of more than 100,000 individuals who have vanished in Syria with answers regarding the fate and location of their loved ones, as well as during future accountability mechanisms and legal actions. The International Court of Justice’s obligatory provisional measures in the torture case against Syria require the state to maintain evidence of such abuses. 

The Syrian transitional authorities should also collaborate with the International Committee of the Red Cross and other specialized Syrian civil society organizations that can offer essential expertise and assistance in safeguarding these documents in order to help clarify the circumstances surrounding missing individuals and thus allow families, who have endured agonizing uncertainty for years, if not decades, to gain the answers they seek. Public outreach initiatives can elucidate the importance of evidence preservation, the actions being undertaken, and how communities can participate in this effort without inadvertently hindering it.

“The families of Syria’s tens of thousands of forcibly disappeared individuals deserve relief from their suffering,” stated Hiba Zayadin, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.  “Many of the truths regarding the fate of their loved ones may very well be discovered in ransacked offices, looted documents, or disturbed mass grave sites. It is imperative for Syrians to receive direct communication from transitional leaders regarding their commitment to uncovering the truth and providing answers to the families of the disappeared.”

To guarantee accountability and foster trust in their governance, transitional authorities must also halt reprisal killings, making it clear that such offenses will not be tolerated.  They should address issues related to arbitrary detention in regions under their authority. This encompasses granting access to independent monitors for HTS-controlled detention facilities and ensuring that each detainee is subjected to judicial oversight. Transparency regarding the treatment and detention of individuals is vital to demonstrate a distinct departure from previous patterns of oppression by all factions involved in the conflict in Syria, and to signal to Syrians that the cycle of arbitrary detention and abuse will not recur.