Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced the formation of two new bodies: the National Commission for Transitional Justice and a National Commission for Missing Persons.
The step was made public on Saturday evening and establishes the basis for a legal pathway to address the extensive violations committed over 14 years of war under former President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
However, legal rights bodies and specialists are questioning the specifics of how this step will be pursued.
Syrians have long called for a process that includes clear legal mechanisms to hold perpetrators of crimes against civilians during the war to account, insisting this will build confidence in the new leadership and state, and reduce the likilhood of 'revenge killings'.
Such procedures will also prevent the emergence of "acts of revenge as justice" which would threaten to derail any chance of civil peace in the country.
Two separate decrees signed by Al-Sharaa announced the formation of the two bodies, with the Commission for Missing Persons tasked with "researching and uncovering the fate of the mission and those who were forcibly disappeared".
Other tasks assigned to the commission are to document cases, establish a national database, and provide legal and humanitarian support to the families.
The Commission for Transitional Justice is tasked with "uncovering the truth of the grave violations committed by the former regime, pursuing accountability of perpetrators in coordination with relevant authorities, remedy the harm to victims, and firmly establish the principles of non-recurrence and national reconciliation".
According to the decrees, the two bodies have been granted financial and administrative independence and are considered "legal entities", performing their assigned tasks throughout all of Syria.
Mohammed Reza Jalkhi, dean of the political science faculty at Damascus University and was part of Syria's constitutional drafting committee, has been appointed head of the missing person commission.
Abdul Basit Abdul Latif, former Secretary-General of the Syrian National Coalition, will head the transitional justice commission. Abdul Latif is a police officer who defected from the Assad regime in 2012 and holds a law degree from Aleppo University.
Both appointees have been tasked with forming working groups and drafting internal regulations within a maximum period of 30 days.
Criticisms
While many welcome the establishment of the two commissions, some fear a focus on the former regime's crimes could see the "justice of the victor" applied, allowing other groups guilty of war crimes to escape justice.
Lawyer and rights activist Ghazwan Qarnful told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister edition: "We were waiting for these two bodies to be established" and called the move "a step in the right direction."
However, he criticised the mandate being confined to the crimes of one party, i.e. those of the former regime.
"[This will be] a badge of innocence being issued to [other] killers, kidnappers, and mercenaries who violated the lives, rights and dignity of many Syrians".
Founder of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), Fadel Abdul Ghany, said the network had called for the commission to be formed by the legislative council, rather than by presidential decree, "because this would grant it legitimacy, address the issue of its mandate, and ensure broader inclusion of stakeholders—particularly victims".
He argued that "forming it by decree means granting the executive authority a role in it", also noting that the decree hadn't mentioned "participation of civil society organisations, human rights groups, or victims' associations", pointing out that "these observations undermine the commission's independence".
He also called for "integrating transitional justice into broader institutional reform plans in the security and judicial sectors, in order to adopt an integrated approach that addresses the legacy of violations and prevents their recurrence".
This article is based on an article which appeared in our Arabic edition by Mohammed Amin on 19 May 2025. To read the original article click here.