Source: UN / Image: (Picture credit: AP)
GENEVA (14 March 2025) – Syria stands at a crossroads on the eve of the 14th anniversary of its conflict and crisis, says the UN Syria Commission.
“As we reflect on this first commemoration following the former government’s collapse and the jubilation that followed, the horrific violence of the past two weeks is a reminder of the immense challenges that lie ahead,” said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Commission. “At this moment, Syrians need renewed commitment to peace, justice, and the protection of human rights, to break the cycle of violence and ensure accountability for violations, regardless of the perpetrator.”
The Commission voiced deep concern over the recent wave of violence that engulfed the coastal areas and the reported deaths of many civilians, mostly men but also women and children, which are currently under investigation.
Witnesses have described to the UN Commission extrajudicial killings amid intense clashes in the coastal areas between armed men allegedly loyal to the former government and the caretaker authorities’ security forces and affiliated groups. Hundreds of members of these forces are also reported to have been killed in combat or summarily executed after capture.
The Commission notes positive steps taken by the caretaker authorities, including the establishment of an independent inquiry into these events. This inquiry must be able to operate without interference, maintain its independence and integrity, and present its findings comprehensively to the Syrian public, setting out the sequence of events and the alleged crimes and violations committed by all parties involved.
The Commission’s own investigations are ongoing and include verifying digital information. In this regard, the Commission warns of widespread disinformation online, including videos purporting to show violations committed during these events which in fact date from years ago or took place in other countries and conflicts. These, alongside incendiary and hateful speech also circulating online in relation to the recent violence, risk fuelling further tensions and fear.
“The new wave of violence must not derail Syria from its fragile path toward a stable, prosperous, and just future — a path it had only just begun to tread when violence erupted again,” Commissioner Hanny Megally said. “The caretaker authorities have committed to respecting and protecting human rights for everyone in Syria, without exception. All Syrians have equal rights.”
The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry was mandated in August 2011, five months after peaceful demonstrations descended into brutality as the former government unleashed a crackdown that led to mass arrests, torture, and widespread human rights abuses.
After 14 years of unspeakable suffering in one of modern times’ most harrowing conflicts, recent days have seen agreements seeking to end fighting and normalize relationships with non-State armed groups and political representatives in the northeast and the south. The Commission also takes note of the new constitutional declaration, which is a step towards consolidating the rule of law.
The conflict has left Syria with a catastrophic economic and humanitarian situation, while humanitarian funding is dwindling. Economic despair is known to fuel violence. The Commission continues to urge the lifting of all sectoral sanctions and the removal of other barriers to recovery and reconstruction.
Until the recent escalation in violence, many Syrians were cautiously viewing this anniversary with hope that the brutal war was drawing to a close, and relief after decades of state-organized repression.
Urgent efforts are needed to achieve accountability for crimes committed during the Assad era and by all warring parties since 2011, also to prevent victims of atrocities from being tempted to take the law into their own hands. Evidence, including documents in prisons, courts and mass grave sites need to be preserved to support future truth and accountability initiatives by the new Syrian authorities with the support of other key actors such as Syrian civil society.
“As we mark this anniversary, we honour Syria’s victims and survivors who need and deserve to see their right to truth, justice and reparation fulfilled – the truth about the fate of the disappeared, about the repression enforced by the former state authorities, about violations by non-state armed groups and Member States that have intervened, and about the most recent violence,” said Commissioner Lynn Welchman. “As they process this national and generational trauma, Syrians deserve the unwavering solidarity of the international community in turning a new page toward a future of dignity, peace and justice.”
Thousands of prisoners released from the former government’s notorious detention facilities and torture chambers in December now require physical and psychological rehabilitation. They also need support to address the legal consequences of arbitrary measures taken against them and their families, including related to their properties.
Resolving the fate of the tens of thousands who remain disappeared will require a major effort led by the caretaker authorities, with support from Syrian civil society, family associations, the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Commission is ready to assist, alongside the IIIM, including by sharing information from the data it has gathered since 2011.
