Washington, DC — 27 May 2025
As Syria navigates a prolonged and deeply fragmented conflict, the pursuit of justice and accountability has taken center stage. Emerging mechanisms—most notably the Transitional Justice Commission and the National Commission for the Missing—represent early, though complex, steps toward reckoning with past atrocities and laying the foundation for sustainable peace.
Transitional Justice Commission: Confronting the Legacy of Atrocity
The Transitional Justice Commission (TJC) was established as part of broader efforts by Syrian stakeholders, international partners, and transitional governance actors to address decades of human rights abuses, war crimes, and systemic repression.
While its structure and jurisdiction may evolve, the Commission’s core mandate is to investigate and document serious violations committed by all parties since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. Its broader objective is to support national reconciliation through accountability, truth-telling, and institutional reform.
The TJC’s work includes documenting abuses, facilitating truth-telling processes, supporting reparations for victims, and advancing public acknowledgment of harm. It also recommends structural reforms aimed at preventing future violations, including the vetting of security forces and judicial personnel.
The Commission operates under principles of inclusivity, impartiality, and victim-centered justice. It seeks to balance the pursuit of accountability with the practical need to stabilize and rebuild a fractured state.
However, significant challenges remain. Ongoing conflict in parts of Syria limits access to affected populations. Deep political divisions and the absence of a unified national authority complicate implementation.
Concerns also persist regarding the scope of the Commission’s mandate—particularly whether it sufficiently addresses abuses committed by non-state actors—and the extent to which victims will be meaningfully included in its processes. Many survivors and civil society actors remain skeptical of a mechanism that lacks clear international guarantees and enforcement capacity.
National Commission for the Missing: Addressing Enforced Disappearance
Few issues capture the human cost of Syria’s conflict more starkly than the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared. It is both a humanitarian and legal imperative to provide answers for families who have endured years of uncertainty and loss. Estimates suggest that between 100,000 and 200,000 people remain missing.
In response, the National Commission for the Missing (NCM) was established with support from the United Nations and international humanitarian partners. It operates as an independent, civilian-led body tasked with clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing persons.
The NCM collects and verifies data on individuals who have been forcibly disappeared, detained, or abducted. It works directly with families to gather testimonies and provide updates, while coordinating with forensic experts to identify remains in mass graves and other locations. The Commission also promotes transparency and legal accountability for perpetrators of enforced disappearance.
Its creation follows years of advocacy by Syrian civil society groups, families of the disappeared, and human rights defenders—many of whom have faced harassment, detention, or exile. Their continued involvement is essential to the Commission’s credibility and effectiveness.
The Commission also seeks cooperation from state and external actors, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, and various armed groups, to build a centralized record of detainees and the deceased.
While the establishment of the NCM has been met with cautious optimism, its long-term impact will depend on transparency, sustained international support, and a genuine commitment to a rights-based, victim-centered approach.
The Road Ahead: Justice as a Foundation for Peace
For both the Transitional Justice Commission and the National Commission for the Missing, success ultimately depends on political will, sustained international engagement, and the meaningful inclusion of Syrian civil society.
These mechanisms are not comprehensive solutions, but they represent a critical shift—from impunity toward accountability, and from silence toward acknowledgment.
Their work is foundational to any viable post-conflict settlement. Without addressing grievances, clarifying the fate of the missing, and reforming abusive institutions, the conditions that fueled the conflict are likely to persist.
At the same time, escalating sectarian rhetoric underscores the urgency of an inclusive transitional justice framework—one that serves all Syrians rather than reinforcing existing divisions.
Syria now faces a defining choice: support a genuinely victim-centered process grounded in accountability and transparency, or continue along a path of exclusion and fragmentation. The direction taken will shape not only the prospects for justice, but the durability of peace itself.
Photo Credit: Ali Mustafa, Presente by DC Protests. Licensed under CC BY NC SA 2.0
Lara Kajs is the founder and executive director of The Genocide Report (TGR). She has conducted extensive fieldwork in conflict and displacement settings, including Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. Her work focuses on humanitarian crises, international law, and atrocity prevention.