Salah Qirata
Since global debates on transitional justice gained prominence in the 1990s, after the fall of many authoritarian regimes and bloody civil wars, the concept has become a cornerstone of democratic transitions. Transitional justice is not just a legal tool to punish perpetrators; it is a comprehensive process aimed at uncovering truth, providing reparations, reforming institutions, and ensuring non-repetition of violations.
At its core, transitional justice balances justice with civil peace. It goes beyond punishing offenders by placing victims at the heart of the process, acknowledging their suffering and securing their rights. In doing so, it lays the foundation for a new social contract that breaks with a painful past and opens the door to a shared future.
To illustrate, several international experiences highlight different approaches to transitional justice.
- South Africa is perhaps the most famous case, with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Desmond Tutu. It gave apartheid victims a platform to tell their stories in exchange for conditional amnesty to perpetrators who confessed. The process emphasized public truth as a prerequisite for national reconciliation.
- Morocco, through the Equity and Reconciliation Commission, focused on reparations for victims of the “Years of Lead” and recommended reforms in the security and legal sectors.
- In Latin America, countries like Argentina and Chile pursued broad criminal trials against former military leaders, stressing that impunity only invites future abuses.
These models show that transitional justice is never a one-size-fits-all formula. Each nation adapts it to its own context, but the process always rests on four pillars: truth, accountability, reparations, and non-repetition.
Syria Nine Months Into the New Era Today, about nine months into
Syria’s new political chapter, transitional justice stands at the heart of public and political debate. Syrians, victims and wider society alike, increasingly recognize that building a safe future requires confronting the past, not burying it.
Yet progress so far remains symbolic rather than institutional. Announcements of prisoner releases, the creation of fact-finding committees, and the opening of offices to receive missing-person complaints are important first steps. But they remain modest compared to the magnitude of Syria’s challenges. To date, there is no national strategy for transitional justice, nor an independent body tasked with truth-seeking or reparations.
Even more concerning, some state institutions have not undergone structural reform, raising fears of reproducing the old system with new faces.
What the Transitional Government Must Do
Syria’s success in this domain will largely determine its political and social stability for decades to come. Several urgent measures could pave the way:
- Establish an independent national transitional justice commission, including victims’ representatives, civil society, legal experts, and international observers to ensure transparency.
- Launch a national truth-seeking program to gather testimonies, document violations, and publish regular public reports.
- Create a reparations fund, supported by both the national budget and international donors, to provide material and moral compensation for victims and their families.
- Reform the security and judicial apparatus, vetting leadership to exclude those involved in past abuses.
- Integrate transitional justice into education and media, fostering a culture of accountability and ending impunity.
- Draw on international expertise, such as partnerships with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), to avoid missteps and adopt best practices.
Ultimately, transitional justice is not a political luxury for Syria; it is an existential requirement for national survival. Delay risks opening the door to new cycles of revenge and fragmentation. Nine months into the new era, the opportunity is still present, but what is needed is political courage and inclusive participation of victims and civil society.
Without justice, there can be no reconciliation. Without reconciliation, there can be no truly new Syria.
*The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of +963 Media Association .
