The Syrian Future Movement is closely following the results of the official visit to Damascus by Judge Faiq Zaidan, President of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Iraq, and his accompanying judicial delegation. This visit included meetings with President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Minister of Justice Mazhar al-Wais, and the announced agreement to form joint judicial and technical committees to review the cases of detainees affiliated with ISIS who arrived from al-Hol camp, and to strengthen legal and judicial cooperation between Syria and Iraq.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that shifting the approach to this issue from a purely security-based one to a judicial and institutional one represents an important step that should be built upon. The terrorism that both Syria and Iraq have suffered cannot be addressed solely through security measures, but rather through a judiciary capable of determining individual responsibility, preserving evidence, providing justice for victims, and ensuring that perpetrators do not escape punishment.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that the issue of Syrians held in Iraqi prisons and detention centers must be a purely Syrian sovereign and legal matter, and that the Syrian state must bear its responsibility towards its citizens wherever they may be, whether they are accused, detained, victims, or members of families whose presence is linked to the conditions in al-Hol camp and its aftermath.
At the same time, the Movement emphasizes that the state reclaiming its responsibility for its citizens does not mean exonerating anyone or absolving perpetrators of responsibility. Rather, it means determining this responsibility through the judiciary and the law, far removed from collective judgments or vague classifications.
Based on this, the Syrian Future Movement affirms the following:
We welcome the development of Syrian-Iraqi judicial cooperation, and we see it as a positive step towards building relations between the two countries based on institutions, the rule of law, and shared interests, instead of the unregulated security and political relations that characterized previous periods.
We call for a clear and transparent legal framework for the work of the joint committees, defining their jurisdictions and mechanisms for exchanging information, evidence, and case files, while preserving the sovereignty of both countries and the jurisdiction of their national courts.
We emphasize the necessity of distinguishing between affiliation or suspicion and the establishment of a crime. Not everyone who lived in al-Hol camp or was geographically connected to areas controlled by ISIS should be considered criminally responsible. Responsibility is personal and can only be established through evidence and a fair trial.
We call on the Syrian government to establish a central national database for Syrians detained or convicted in Iraq, including their legal status, the charges against them, and the stages of their trials. This would allow the state and their families to know their fate and follow up on their cases according to legal procedures.
We stress the importance of providing judicial guarantees, the right to defense, and a fair trial for every accused person, regardless of the seriousness of the charges. The state for which Syrians fought must distinguish itself from a despotic state by its commitment to the rule of law, even in the face of those accused of the most serious crimes.
We call for prioritizing the rights of Syrian and Iraqi victims in any future judicial arrangements, including documenting crimes, preserving evidence and testimonies, and ensuring victims and their families have access to justice. The issue should not be reduced solely to the fate of those detained.
We demand separate and special treatment for women, children, minors, and those whose participation in criminal acts has not been proven. We reject any form of collective responsibility or the transmission of crimes to children and families.
We call for expanding Syrian-Iraqi cooperation to include combating terrorism, organized crime, and drug trafficking, as well as border control and the exchange of wanted persons in accordance with the law. The security of Syria and Iraq is intertwined, and cooperation must preserve the sovereignty of both countries and prevent the resurgence of transnational organizations.
We believe that any transfer or return of Syrians to Syria must be subject to documented and transparent judicial procedures. The movement of individuals between the two countries must not lead to the loss of evidence, the forfeiture of victims’ rights, or the obstruction of legal proceedings.
We call upon the Syrian Ministry of Justice to inform the public, to the extent that it does not jeopardize the investigations, of the legal framework and the key findings of the joint committees’ work, because transparency in major cases strengthens the Syrian people’s trust in the new justice institutions.
The Syrian Future Movement sees this cooperation as an opportunity that transcends addressing a current issue, aiming to establish a new model for the relationship between Syria and Iraq: a relationship between two states, institutions, and a judiciary, not one of security apparatuses, influence, and power blocs.
We also emphasize that the success of the new Syrian state will not be measured solely by its ability to pursue terrorism, but by its ability to do so within the framework of the law, ensuring that the guilty are punished, the innocent are freed, victims receive justice, and no Syrian remains without recourse or concern for their state.
Our battle against terrorism is not a battle of revenge, but a battle for statehood, justice, and sovereignty. True victory lies in the Syrian people confronting the most dangerous issues left behind by years of war with the tools of law and institutions, not with the tools of chaos and exceptionalism.
