Washington, DC. 4 December 2025—
After more than thirteen years of conflict, Syria remains one of the most heavily documented atrocity situations of the 21st century. Independent investigations have produced extensive evidence that forces under the command of President Bashar al-Assad committed grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Despite this substantial evidentiary record, structural political barriers, particularly at the UN Security Council, have stalled international prosecution pathways. To complicate the situation further, in December 2024, Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, absconding to avoid being brought to justice. Nonetheless, holding Assad accountable is still possible through universal jurisdiction, coordinated multilateral pressure, and long-term justice mechanisms.
Why Accountability Matters
Accountability serves three essential purposes. First, there has to be justice for victims. Survivors and families of the disappeared have endured unimaginable trauma. Many have waited years for the truth about the fate of their loved ones. Justice is not only a legal necessity but a moral obligation to acknowledge and repair the immense harm inflicted. Second, holding perpetrators accountable serves as a deterrent to future atrocities. Without real consequences, the use of chemical weapons, torture, and deliberate attacks on civilians risks becoming normalized, not only in Syria but in future conflicts elsewhere. Lastly, accountability and justice are the foundations for lasting peace. Sustainable peace requires more than the cessation of hostilities. Societies fractured by mass atrocities cannot heal without accountability, truth-telling, and a reckoning with the past.
Existing Evidence and Investigative Efforts
Across more than a decade of conflict, independent bodies, including the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (CoI), the UN’s International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), human rights organizations, The Genocide Report (TGR), international legal experts, and investigative mechanisms, have documented widespread torture and inhuman treatment, including within the Syrian state’s network of detention centers. Findings reported enforced disappearances numbering in the hundreds of thousands. There is evidence of indiscriminate aerial and artillery attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, markets, and residential areas. Investigations from the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), and later the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), indicated the use of chemical weapons in multiple attacks attributed to Syrian government forces. These violations amount to probable war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Legal Foundations
Although Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the alleged crimes fall within the ICC’s jurisdiction if the UN Security Council refers the situation. Such attempts have been vetoed by Russia and China, preventing the ICC from launching a formal investigation. Viable paths remain for pursuing justice, including universal jurisdiction trials, international evidence mechanisms, targeting sanctions, diplomatic pressure, a future ICC referral or hybrid tribunal, and truth and reconciliation measures. Alongside criminal processes, Syrians deserve truth commissions, documentation of the missing, efforts to identify the victims in mass graves, and institutional reforms to prevent recurrence.
Several European countries, including Germany, France, and Sweden, have prosecuted lower-level Syrian officials under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows national courts to try individuals for grave international crimes regardless of where they were committed. The landmark 2022 conviction in Germany of former Syrian intelligence officer Anwar Raslan to life in prison for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and sexual assault, demonstrated that some accountability is achievable even without access to Assad himself.
Legal experts have proposed a special tribunal for Syria, similar to those established for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, or Sierra Leone. Such a tribunal would require broad international support but could target high-level officials, including Assad, for crimes identified in documented investigations.
Assad’s presence in Russia, along with Russia’s military, diplomatic, and economic backing, poses a significant obstacle to any direct apprehension or prosecution. As a deposed former head of state living in Russia, Assad benefits from political protection and, in many contexts, diplomatic immunity. While immunity may not apply to all forms of international criminal prosecution, the practical ability to arrest or extradite him depends on the host state’s cooperation, which Russia is unlikely to provide.
Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, including military intervention and political support, ties Assad’s fate closely to Moscow’s strategic interests. Changing this dynamic would require either a significant shift in Russian policy or a broader international consensus capable of overriding geopolitical vetoes, both difficult but not impossible in the long term.
Strategies for Pursuing Accountability
One of the most powerful tools available to victims and rights organizations is evidence preservation. UN-established mechanisms such as the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) continue to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence of alleged crimes, documenting the evidence for future prosecutions. This repository ensures that proof of atrocities will not be lost with time. Even if justice is delayed, this record ensures that evidence will be available should political conditions shift.
Targeted sanctions, such as travel bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on business activity involving Syrian officials, can impose costs on those allegedly responsible for abuses. While sanctions do not constitute judicial or criminal accountability, they serve as a form of political and economic pressure, and can restrict the ability of perpetrators to operate with impunity and signal ongoing international condemnation of abuses.
Some jurisdictions allow civil lawsuits against foreign officials for torture or other grave abuses, though these face legal complexities around immunity. Still, they can secure symbolic victories, impose financial penalties, or secure judicial findings that reinforce the factual record.
Sustained pressure through international organizations, UN resolutions, and regional coalitions can limit Assad’s legitimacy via diplomatic isolation and narrow his range of political maneuvering, even if he remains protected by powerful allies.
Bringing Assad to Justice
Historical precedents – from the Balkans to Latin America – show that accountability for leaders once considered untouchable can eventually be achieved. Consider cases like Slobodan Milošević or Charles Taylor, who were indicted or extradited only after political tides changed. Assad’s position in Russia may seem secure today, but geopolitical alliances and domestic political landscapes evolve. Preparing robust legal cases ensures that when circumstances shift, whether due to diplomatic realignment, transition in Syria, or changes within Russia, a prosecution infrastructure will already exist.
Justice for the Syrian people cannot depend on political convenience. The scale and gravity of the alleged crimes are too extensive – and too well documented – to be ignored. Ensuring that Assad and all responsible parties face legal scrutiny is not only a Syrian issue; it is a matter of upholding the international norms that protect civilians everywhere.
Photo credit: “Homs Attack 2012” by Lara Kajs. Also, featured as the cover image for the book “Assad’s Syria.”
Lara Kajs is the founder and executive director of The Genocide Report, an NGO nonprofit organization in Washington, DC. She is the author of Beyond the Veil: Afghan Women and Girls’ Journey to Freedom (forthcoming), Assad’s Syria, and Stories from Yemen: A Diary from the Field, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and independent bookstores worldwide. Distributed by Ingram. Ms. Kajs frequently speaks about atrocity crimes, forced displacement, state terrorism, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Follow and connect with Lara Kajs on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.