Just days after their country’s liberation from a long dictatorship, many in Syria have begun to shake off long-held fears and reclaim their innocence. Tens of thousands of political prisoners, for example, have been released from detention. Some had been held for decades simply for their views.
At the same time, the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that ousted the Assad regime offered amnesty to conscripted soldiers, in effect declaring them innocent of following any orders from higher-ups. In addition, low-level government workers have been asked to stay on.
In postconflict societies, sifting innocent people from guilty people is often seen as essential for national reconciliation. Syria now has a “huge chance” for an inclusive and fair political transition, said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Dec. 9. And, he added, accountability “is going to be a key piece of the transition, because we cannot afford [to] go back to those periods where indeed impunity reigns.”
The new leaders in Damascus – who themselves are suspected of atrocities by some countries – promised on Tuesday to pursue former top government officials responsible for torture and war crimes. That task may be much easier for Syria than for similar postconflict countries. The civil war that began in 2011 after a pro-democracy uprising is considered by scholars to be the most documented conflict in history.
For years, atrocities in Syria have been recorded by both private and U.N. bodies in hopes of prosecuting guilty people someday. Some of the evidence has indeed already been used to put former Syrian officials on trial in European countries. That wealth of evidence has now been greatly enhanced by paperwork uncovered in prisons and elsewhere since the taking of Damascus Dec. 8.
“There is a sea change,” said Robert Petit, a Canadian prosecutor who heads the U.N. investigative body known as the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism Investigating Serious Crimes in Syria. The country’s new leaders have promised rewards for information on senior security officers involved in war crimes.
Breaking the cycle of violence in Syria will require a careful approach in what is called transitional justice. Innocent people and the survivors of past atrocities are often best equipped to define the right balance between justice and mercy, as many countries have discovered.
For now, Syria seems off to a good start. It is hailing the innocent who were wrongly imprisoned and forgiving low-level soldiers forced to follow orders. The act of affirming innocence can be just as effective as finding guilt.
