The Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention hosted a webinar on Tuesday on transitional justice and atrocity prevention in post-Assad Syria.

Panelists included Fadel Abdulghany, the executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights; Assaad Al Achi, the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression; Bassam Alahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice; Razan Rashidi, the executive director of The Syria Campaign; and Beth Van Schaack, a distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice.

Maxim Pensky, a philosophy professor who serves as a co-director of I-GMAP, moderated the Zoom webinar, where interpreters gave attendees the option to listen in Arabic or English. He began by defining transitional justice, saying it requires not just “not raising risks of future violence” but also implementing policies that ensure justice for victims and accountability to perpetrators.

“It’s a tall order for any society,” Pensky said. “In the case of Syria, I think it is an exceptionally great challenge.”

Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship over Syria ended in December 2024 after an almost 14-year-long civil war, resulting in hundreds of thousands killed and half the population displaced.

Pensky asked Rashidi to refute the idea that “Syria has neither the tolerance nor the capacity” to seek justice for victims and perpetrators. She responded, saying people from a variety of social and economic backgrounds protested the lack of accountability for their missing loved ones.

Al Achi, however, said the Syrian government has taken actions that do not reflect a commitment to transitional justice. He added that sanctions against the government hamper efforts for economic recovery, raising the risk of further violence.

Several panelists discussed the possibility of establishing a truth committee in Syria to facilitate the carrying out of justice. Van Schaack said creating a body “representative of different communities within that society” is critical to centering people at the core of transitional justice efforts.

“There are elements that exist within the current Syrian authorities that are our allies,” Al Achi said. “We should not alienate them. We should find ways to connect with them, support them and lobby with them against whatever we don’t like that the Syrian authorities are doing today.”

Abdulghany said establishing a truth commission focused on reform could be difficult, citing various logistical and ethical concerns, like documentation, selecting which victims should be given justice and time frames.

In January, 51 organizations working on transitional justice met in Damascus, Rashidi said. In 2014, The Syria Campaign, a human rights organization, was formed to support “Syria’s heroes in their struggle for freedom, justice and democracy,” according to its website.

Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech were discussed as key barriers to sharing stories and gaining momentum. Rashidi said it may be wise to partner with “nontraditional actors” in transitional justice, like journalists and those involved in arts, culture and the media, as these individuals influence public opinion and perception.

“Survivors have given testimony, many of them dozens of times — to journalists, to local civil society groups, to international organizations — but to put that into a formalized record and to have that acknowledged, I think, is something that a truth commission can do,” Van Schaack said. “Especially because we know that justice can never be comprehensive. Every victim will not have their day in court.”

According to Abdulghany, civil society actors could be key partners in the accountability process by monitoring and criticizing the actions of a transitional justice committee, while also ensuring the body reports to the media and other channels.

Pensky read a question asked by Gregory Stanton, the founding director of Genocide Watch, an organization that aims to foster “an international movement to prevent and stop genocide,” considering if a globalized civil society could bring transitional justice to Syria. Van Schaack said it was possible.

“We now have 50 years of empirical longitudinal research, plus really deep and rich case studies of individual societies, and we know that there are a number of models that are available that have different degrees of hybridization, different degrees of different ways in which mechanisms can be sequenced — and all of this can be adapted for the Syrian context, but it has to be locally driven,” Van Schaack said. “So this is where having an open dialogue with the various communities within Syria and creating a process that’s genuine and inclusive and participatory for that to happen.”

Al Achi and Alahmad said a broad swath of Syrian society must come together to shape the country’s future. Abdulghany urged for a national dialogue between groups who disagree and for involving experts in this process.

“Allow Syrians a chance to succeed,” Al Achi said. “And for Syrians to have a chance to succeed, all sanctions need to be lifted on the Syrian government.”