Syrian Mission to the UN, LAW, and Syrian Forum Host Side Event on Advancing a Holistic Accountability Framework for Syria
Side Event to the Human Rights Council 58th Session
Towards a holistic accountability framework for Syria: Is it possible?
On March 27, 2025, in a landmark development, the Syrian Mission to the United Nations co-hosted its inaugural side event at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in collaboration with Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and the Syrian Forum. The event, titled “Towards a Holistic Accountability Framework for Syria: Is It Possible?”, marked a significant step forward in fostering dialogue and collaboration on the critical issues of harmonizing justice and accountability efforts for Syria.
The event explored the feasibility of consolidating and mainstreaming international mechanisms dedicated to Syria, with a particular focus on achieving justice and accountability for the atrocities committed during the conflict. A distinguished panel of experts participated in the discussion, including Ibrahim Olabi, Legal Advisor at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ahmad Helmi, Co-Founder and Manager of the Taafi Initiative; Sana Kikhia, Executive Director of the Syrian Legal Development Programme; and Yousuf Syed Khan, Investigation Manager at Legal Action Worldwide (LAW). The session was moderated by M. Yaser Tabbara, Co-Founding Board Member and Chief Strategist of the Syrian Forum.
This event marked a rare and significant moment in the Syrian context, as representatives from both Syrian civil society and the Syrian government sat side-by-side in a public dialogue, addressing the most pressing issues of justice and accountability. The panelists openly discussed their concerns, shared hopes for justice and reconciliation, and proposed ideas for a national transitional justice mechanism—one that is Syrian-led but closely aligned with existing international efforts.
The event attracted delegates from over 30 countries, including members of the UN Human Rights Council, the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), the International and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIMP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and various international NGOs. The broad participation underscored the global commitment to finding an inclusive and sustainable path to justice for Syria.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Haidar Ali Ahmad highlighted the urgent need to address the decades of crimes and human rights violations committed by the Assad regime against the Syrian people. He emphasized that achieving sustainable peace and holding perpetrators accountable remain the Syrian interim Government’s top priorities. Transitional justice, he noted, was a central issue in the Syrian national dialogue and had been addressed in the constitutional declaration. The ambassador underscored the importance of establishing both national and international mechanisms to address the Assad regime’s crimes and stressed the need for effective coordination to achieve lasting justice.
In response to questions about the practicality of building a structured Syrian accountability framework, LAW’s Investigations Manager, Yousuf Syed Khan, shared several critical insights. He emphasized the mandates and value of existing international mechanisms including the COI, IIIM, OPCW, and IIMP, noting that organizations such as LAW have also made significant progress before Syrian courts by securing the release and acquittal of detainees on counter-terrorism charges. Khan also raised the issue of whether international mandates, such as those of the COI and IIIM, can be said to be finite by their very nature, and what the benchmarks for their winding down might look like.
Khan stressed the need for complementary international mandates, describing the COI’s role in documenting violations and reporting publicly, the IIIM’s focus on evidence preservation, and the OPCW’s work on chemical weapons attribution. He emphasized that each mechanism serves a distinct purpose, and that too much integration could interfere with their independence. He also highlighted the difficulty of achieving sustainable accountability in Syria, given the complex and cumulative nature of violations spanning decades, with many predating the conflict, and further noted the need for a comprehensive and holistic approach comparable to that adopted in addressing accountability for violations and crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
On transitional justice, Khan highlighted contexts like Sudan and South Sudan, where the failure to implement both truth-telling and criminal accountability mechanisms has contributed to the erosion of peace processes and public trust, highlighting the limitations of truth commissions in the absence of criminal justice. He also emphasized that Syria’s context is unique, with its combination of human rights violations and atrocity crimes requiring a considerably comprehensive framework. He called for a truth commission that could document a wide range of crimes, not just those committed recently after the fall of the Assad regime. Lastly, he underscored the need for consistent government engagement and cautioned against promising accountability without follow-through, drawing from past experiences in other conflict zones.
This event marked a significant step toward fostering collaboration and dialogue among all stakeholders to ensure a just and accountable future for Syria.
