DAMASCUS: The Syrian Network for Human Rights’ Executive Director Fadel Abdulghany said on Wednesday that the rulings issued on Tuesday against former leader Bashar Assad, Atef Najib, and seven others represent an important legal step toward breaking the cycle of impunity in the country.
The rulings move accountability for serious crimes from political and moral demands into a national judicial framework, Abdulghany said in a statement to SANA, the Syrian Arab Republic’s news agency.
Abdulghany said the judgments against individuals convicted of crimes against the Syrian people carry particular significance for victims and their families, as they publicly acknowledge killings, torture, detention and enforced disappearance.
He added that the rulings confirm that these violations were not isolated incidents but part of a widespread and systematic pattern.
Abdulghany said the case should mark the beginning of a comprehensive national accountability process, requiring clear national legislation addressing crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance.
He said such legislation should regulate command responsibility, protect victims’ rights and ensure that perpetrators do not escape accountability.
He stressed that sustainable justice could not be achieved through a single ruling, regardless of its symbolic significance, but requires uncovering the truth, providing reparations for victims, determining the fate of missing and forcibly disappeared persons, and ensuring non-recurrence.
On Tuesday, Damascus’ Fourth Criminal Court issued death sentences in absentia against several members of the former regime.
Those convicted in the case include Maher Hafez Assad, Fahd Jassem Al-Freij, Louay Ali Al-Ali, Qusai Ibrahim Mihoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser and Talal Fares Al-Esmay.
Proceedings against Mohammed Ayman Ayoush were terminated following confirmation of his death.
The Ministry of Justice said Amnesty International’s remarks on the death penalty, trials in absentia and judicial reform did not accurately reflect the nature of the judicial procedures followed in the cases or the safeguards guaranteed to litigants under Syrian law.
In a statement published on its Telegram channel, the ministry said the trials were held before a specialized civilian criminal court, presided over by qualified judges and attended by victims and their representatives, in accordance with legal procedures.
It said the proceedings observed constitutional and legal safeguards as well as relevant rules and principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The rulings were based on facts, evidence and judicial files, while the rights of defense and avenues for appeal and objection were guaranteed under applicable procedures, the ministry said.
The ministry said it respected the interest of international human rights organizations in justice and human rights issues. And stressed that Syria’s current circumstances and the legacy of years of crimes and violations placed a legal and moral responsibility on the state to achieve justice and hold those responsible accountable.
It said pursuing accountability did not mean bypassing constitutional and legal safeguards or infringing on the rights of any party to the proceedings.
Justice in these cases is being pursued through state institutions and within their jurisdictions, the ministry said, while preserving victims’ rights to redress and defendants’ rights to be tried in accordance with the law.
The ministry said the rule of Syrian law and the independence of the judiciary were the foundation for administering justice in the new Syria.
It described the judicial reform underway as a comprehensive national process aimed at strengthening judicial independence, consolidating fair-trial guarantees and developing legislation and judicial institutions.
The ministry said those efforts were intended to strengthen citizens’ confidence in the judiciary and ensure there was no impunity, while keeping the justice process free from revenge or politicization.
Addressing the death penalty, the ministry said it is prescribed under Syrian law and can only be imposed through a judicial ruling based on law, evidence and facts.
Any execution of such a sentence is subject to established legal safeguards and controls and cannot take place until all stages and procedures required by law and the competent authorities have been completed.
The ministry also said that trials in absentia, when permitted by law and when their legal conditions are met, do not, in themselves, negate the guarantees of justice or the legality of the proceedings.
The ministry said the rulings had been widely welcomed among Syrians as a step toward accountability and redress for victims, and as confirmation that the Syrian judiciary was moving forward with applying the law and holding those responsible for crimes accountable, away from revenge and retribution.
It reiterated its openness to dialogue with international human rights organizations and said it was prepared to consider observations that could help develop the justice system.
The ministry stressed, however, that evaluating judicial proceedings, adjudicating cases and determining responsibilities and penalties remain within the jurisdiction of the Syrian judiciary, which exercises its authority under the constitution and law while safeguarding the rights of all parties and victims to justice.
