The Syrian Future Movement commemorates the International Day for the Truth and Respect of the Dignity of Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations, recognized by the United Nations and observed annually on March 24. We affirm that uncovering the truth, providing redress for victims, and upholding their dignity are fundamental pillars of any successful political transition in Syria today, as the country undergoes a fragile transitional phase requiring a delicate balance between justice and national stability.
The Syrian Future Movement recalls that the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, issued on March 13, 2026, documented progress in establishing two national bodies for transitional justice and missing persons on May 17, 2025, along with national investigations into the events in the coastal, central, and southern regions in 2025. However, it also noted the continued challenges and violations that threaten public trust and called for international support and fundamental reforms to ensure accountability.
The Syrian Future Movement bases its position on recent, accurate reports, such as the Human Rights Watch World Report 2026, which described the transitional efforts as “initial but selective and opaque steps,” and Amnesty International reports (May, August, and December 2025) which confirmed the existence of more than 100,000 missing or forcibly disappeared persons (mostly at the hands of the former regime, and others at the hands of all parties), and the Syrian Network for Human Rights report (August 2025) which documented 177,057 forcibly disappeared persons up to that date, including 4,536 children and 8,984 women, in addition to 45,342 deaths under torture.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes “the affirmation of fundamental rights, freedom, justice, and the right to know.” As we explained in the paper published on our official website entitled “The Transitional Justice Commission: A Necessity of the Current Stage,” issued on January 13, 2025, transitional justice is “essential to achieving justice for victims, uncovering the truth about the crimes committed during the years of the revolution, and ensuring their non-recurrence.” As we emphasized in our statement regarding the report of the International Commission of Inquiry (March 2026), we are committed to “preserving the dignity of Syrians” and holding senior officials accountable, regardless of their affiliation.
The Syrian Future Movement offers the following recommendations to strengthen this right during the current transitional phase:
- Expand the mandate of the two national bodies to encompass all parties and violations without selectivity, while guaranteeing their complete independence and the participation of victims and civil society at all stages.
- Establish a unified national database of missing persons in cooperation with the International Independent Investigative Mechanism on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP) and the International Investigative Mechanism (IIIM), and issue transparent periodic reports.
- Launch a national program for redress and reparations that includes psychological, social, and economic support for victims and their families, while ensuring non-recurrence through fundamental constitutional and judicial reforms.
- Call upon the transitional government to fully cooperate with UN mechanisms and lift sanctions related to cooperation in the justice process, in exchange for international technical and financial support for documentation and accountability efforts.
The Syrian Future Movement sees respecting the dignity of the victims and revealing the truth as the only way towards a unified, civil, democratic Syria based on equal citizenship, far from all forms of revenge, cover-up or selectivity, so that March 24 becomes a symbol of a future worthy of the sacrifices of the Syrians and their hopes for a state of justice and dignity.
