Friday, October 30, 2026, marks two occasions that intersect within the depths of Syrian politics and history. The world observes the “International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners”—a tradition dating back to 1974 in support of prisoners of conscience—which coincides with the 35th anniversary of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, a significant regional milestone in the pursuit of stability in the Middle East.
By linking these two events, the Syrian Future Movement underscores a fundamental political truth: genuine and lasting peace cannot be forged by a regime that oppresses its own people and casts its brightest minds into the depths of prisons.
The sham peace negotiations historically orchestrated by the Assad regime to consolidate its autocratic rule have proven futile. They lacked the essential foundation for peace and national security: an internal peace rooted in justice, free citizenship, the emptying of prisons, and the definitive, total closure of the file on arbitrary detention.
The vision of the Syrian Future Movement outlines the contours of a new Syria through four key pillars. Its civil and political dimensions entail building a state governed by the rule of law—one that prohibits the encroachment of security apparatuses, criminalizes the silencing of dissent, and guarantees pluralism and freedom of expression. Meanwhile, its humanitarian and civilizational dimensions reflect an absolute commitment to supporting victims and their families, and to fostering international relations based on the principles of international legitimacy and human rights—the true benchmarks for a state’s development and level of civilization. The Syrian Future Movement believes that the security-based approach of the defunct authoritarian regime transformed Syria into a vast detention center, forcing the Syrian people to pay an unprecedented human cost—unmatched in modern history—for their aspirations toward freedom.
Updated indicators and statistics for 2026, issued by human rights networks and independent documentation centers, show that at least 135,000 people have been subjected to arrest or enforced disappearance since 2011. The Assad regime bears direct responsibility for more than 95% of these cases.
Despite the large-scale releases that followed the regime’s fall, the fate of over 112,000 forcibly disappeared individuals remains unknown. Furthermore, it has been documented that more than 45,000 people died under torture. These figures elevate the issue of detainees and the missing from a standard human rights concern to an existential matter—one that determines the future of stability and the establishment of civil peace in the country.
Guided by our national and political responsibility as a civil movement born from the heart of the great Syrian Revolution, and with the aim of laying a solid foundation for the transitional phase and the construction of civil peace, the Syrian Future Movement puts forward the following recommendations:
Establishing the immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees—along with the disclosure of the fate of those forcibly disappeared—as a “supra-constitutional” provision, ensuring that no future regime can replicate the practices of the defunct Assad regime.
Establishing an “Independent National Commission for Truth-Seeking and Transitional Justice,” tasked with opening secret security archives, investigating violations, and upholding the rights of victims. Formulating a new Syrian diplomatic strategy for the transitional phase—grounded in the principles of genuine international peace conferences and relevant UN resolutions—with the essential prerequisite of first dismantling the legacy of domestic authoritarianism.
Adopting rigorous constitutional and legal provisions that criminalize all forms of political detention, abolish exceptional courts, and place all security apparatuses under the authority of the civil judiciary and elected oversight institutions.
The Syrian Future Movement calls upon the international community and the United Nations to assist Syria in preventing impunity for perpetrators and to activate international accountability mechanisms, thereby ensuring a sustainable peace rooted in justice and fairness for the victims and their families.
