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.
