With the coup of March 8, 1963, and the declaration of a state of emergency, the phase of assassinating the independence of the judiciary began. The Syrian League for Human Rights and the lawyers’ unions faced unjust decisions against judges and professional unions. With the assassination of the independent judiciary, the security junta monopolized the executive, legislative, and judicial powers: a judiciary with instructions to draw the tyrant, a people’s assembly without an elected people, and ministers who manage the affairs of the kidnapped state.
Sixty years of tyranny of civil resistance… We all suffered from imprisonment, exile, and abuse, but the dream of building a state of law remained our hope for salvation and ridding our people of this nightmare that lived, lasted, and committed crimes against generations.
What the criminal regime and others did will not distort the clarity of our vision, and we reject the logic of revenge and killing as well as the logic of “legitimate” killing and illegal killing. Our reference in the administration of justice is based on humanitarian principles ratified by Muslim and non-Muslim countries and the International Bill of Human Rights.
In 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan published a report entitled “Transitional Justice in Conflict Societies.” It addressed three main and important issues:
First, the United Nations focuses on transitional justice and the rule of law in conflict societies and beyond.
Second, Give appropriate attention to “local assessments, participation, needs and aspirations” and provide international support based on this.
Third, the United Nations must support local reform services and help build national justice sector institutions. It also needs to help fill the vacuum in the field of the rule of law.
These three issues are urgently needed in Syria today, so we contacted fifty judges, lawyers, and human rights activists from various Syrian regions to intensively train them on the basics of transitional justice according to the experiences of people and the specific characteristics of each country according to the international definition of the term “mechanisms that society must undertake to deal with the legacy of large-scale past transgressions, to ensure accountability, establish justice and achieve reconciliation.” Syria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified in 1968.
Several of the most essential international competencies who worked with us in training Tunisia, Sudan, and Morocco were contacted to be among the trainers and build the Independent High Commission for Transitional Justice.
This body will document, monitor, and prosecute all grave crimes committed and are being committed against the Syrian people in various regions. No one whose hands are stained with Syrian blood will go unpunished.
We want to clarify to all armed groups that no one is above the law or can escape accountability. This also applies to those who have fled the country; the world is interconnected, and those who commit serious crimes against the people of Syria or steal from them will ultimately face justice, no matter where they are.
Establishing justice is essential for creating a free, independent, and dignified Syria for all its people.
This statement is supported by Syrian civil and human rights organizations and legal experts from within the country and abroad.
Please send the names of those who pledge to uphold this commitment to tribunalswatch@gmail.com so we can keep track of them.
We will announce the key initiators and initiatives on December 10, 2024, on International Human Rights Day. Transitional Justice and Building an Independent Judiciary
With the coup of March 8, 1963, and the declaration of a state of emergency, the phase of assassinating the independence of the judiciary began. The Syrian League for Human Rights and the lawyers’ unions stood in the face of unjust decisions against judges and professional unions. With the assassination of the independent judiciary, the security junta monopolized the executive, legislative, and judicial powers: a judiciary with instructions to draw the tyrant, a people’s assembly without an elected people, and ministers who manage the affairs of the kidnapped state.
Sixty years of tyranny, of civil resistance… We all suffered from imprisonment, exile, and abuse, but the dream of building a state of law remained our hope for salvation and ridding our people of this nightmare that lived, lasted, and committed crimes against generations.
What the criminal regime and others did will not distort the clarity of our vision, and we reject the logic of revenge and killing as well as the logic of “legitimate” killing and illegal killing. Our reference in the administration of justice is based on humanitarian principles ratified by Muslim and non-Muslim countries and the International Bill of Human Rights.
In 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan published a report entitled “Transitional Justice in Conflict Societies.” It addressed three main and important issues:
First, the United Nations focuses on transitional justice and the rule of law in conflict societies and beyond.
Second, appropriate attention should be given to “local assessments, participation, needs and aspirations” and international support should be provided based on this.
Third, the United Nations must support local reform services and help build national justice sector institutions. It also needs to help fill the vacuum in the field of the rule of law.
These three issues are urgently needed in Syria today, so we contacted fifty judges, lawyers, and human rights activists from various Syrian regions to intensively train them on the basics of transitional justice according to the experiences of people and the specific characteristics of each country according to the international definition of the term “mechanisms that society must undertake to deal with the legacy of large-scale past transgressions, to ensure accountability, establish justice and achieve reconciliation.” Syria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified in 1968.
Several of the most essential international competencies who worked with us in training Tunisia, Sudan, and Morocco were contacted to be among the trainers and build the Independent High Commission for Transitional Justice.
This body will document, monitor, and prosecute all grave crimes committed and are being committed against the Syrian people in various regions. No one whose hands are stained with Syrian blood will go unpunished.
We want to clarify to all armed groups that no one is above the law or can escape accountability. This also applies to those who have fled the country; the world is interconnected, and those who commit serious crimes against the people of Syria or steal from them will ultimately face justice, no matter where they are.
Establishing justice is essential for creating a free, independent, and dignified Syria for all its people.
This statement is supported by Syrian civil and human rights organizations and legal experts from within the country and abroad.
Please send the names of those who pledge to uphold this commitment to tribunalswatch@gmail.com so we can keep track of them.
December 10, 2024, the International Human Rights Day.
Group for Justice in Syria