Syria’s transitional authorities unveiled two new government bodies on 17 May aimed at addressing human rights abuses committed over more than a decade of conflict. However, rights groups say the limited mandate of the Transitional Justice Commission threatens to sideline many victims and diminish the credibility of the process, reported Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday.
Created by presidential decree, the Transitional Justice Commission and the National Commission for the Missing are intended to support the transitional phase outlined in Syria’s March Constitutional Declaration. That framework promised “effective, consultative, and victim-centred mechanisms” to deliver justice, truth, and redress.
Yet, the Transitional Justice Commission’s mandate, as written, applies only to crimes committed by the Syrian government, excluding abuses carried out by non-state actors, including armed opposition groups and extremist militias. HRW said this limited scope risks undermining the commission’s legitimacy among Syrians who have suffered violations by all parties to the conflict.
The decree also fails to specify how victims will participate in the commission’s work—raising concerns over transparency and inclusivity.
The establishment of the National Commission for the Missing has been met with cautious optimism, but HRW and local civil society organisations stressed that both bodies must operate within a rights-based framework and meaningfully include survivors and their families.
More than 100,000 people remain missing in Syria, and countless others have endured torture, detention, and displacement. Syrian activists and families of the disappeared have long called for accountability and have worked with international institutions to document abuses.
HRW urged Syrian authorities to follow models of successful collaboration between UN mechanisms and victim groups, such as the UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. International support for these new bodies, the group added, should depend on transparency, inclusiveness, and survivor-led participation.
