clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

List of 16,200 Assad regime affiliates accused of crimes against civilians compiled by rights group

December 23, 2024 at 3:22 pm

A view of the “Palestine Branch” detention center, which was used as an interrogation and torture center by the collapsed Baathist regime in Syria for more than half a century and is known with horror among the people, in Damascus, Syria on December 16, 2024.[Emin Sansar – Anadolu Agency]

A UK-based Syrian rights group today said that it has compiled a list of around 16,200 members of the ousted Assad regime accused of committing crimes against civilians.

“The ousted Assad regime committed serious violations that affected millions of Syrians,” the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said in a statement.

The rights group highlighted its efforts to establish a comprehensive database of atrocities committed under the rule of Bashar Al-Assad, who was overthrown by Syrian anti-regime forces on 8 December.

The network divided the perpetrators into two categories: 6,724 individuals from the military and security apparatus and 9,476 members of allied militias.

The group emphasised the importance of focusing legal and judicial efforts on the senior leadership of the military and security services over their responsibility for planning and overseeing crimes against civilians.

The SNHR stressed the need to ensure all victims have the right to file lawsuits against those responsible for their suffering and underscored the broader scope of accountability to include non-military supporters of the regime.

“Among the implicated are actors, writers, and politicians who supported the regime’s crimes through various means, including incitement to violence. Their actions should be evaluated under transitional justice frameworks,” it added.

Al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia, ending the Baath Party’s control over the country, which began in 1963.

READ: Israeli forces fire on Syria protesters, establish permanent positions in south