Families Demand Justice as Syria's Transitional Process Stumbles

Summary

Ziad Mahmoud al-Amayiri and other relatives of the disappeared are pressing for accountability after the 2013 Tadamon killings, pointing to former National Defence Forces commander Fadi Saqr, who denies responsibility but was reportedly granted safe passage by new authorities. Frustration with perceived impunity has fed threats of private retribution as Syrians confront a surge in sectarian violence and revenge killings since Bashar al-Assad’s fall. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded over 1,300 deaths in retaliatory actions by November 2025, while separate clashes on the coast and in Suwayda killed hundreds to thousands, deepening calls for credible legal redress and local truth-finding.

The interim government has established two commissions — one on transitional justice and another on missing persons, which estimates about 300,000 people disappeared — and has carried out high-profile arrests and showcased confessions. But activists, investigators and international experts warn progress is slow: there is no dedicated transitional justice law, limited capacity for excavations and forensic work, and opacity around detention and prosecutions. Groups such as CIJA have preserved troves of regime-era documents that could support future trials, yet many Syrians say they want timely, transparent investigations, public trials and answers about mass graves and detainee fates to prevent further cycles of revenge and unrest, as reported by Al Jazeera