Work towards a national victims’ registry is bringing some of the most difficult questions of Syria’s post-regime transition into focus. Who should be recognised as a victim? How should the consequences of different violations be understood? And where can reparations begin when the needs are immense, and the country is still rebuilding?
The National Commission on Transitional Justice is addressing these questions with support from the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), as it begins to design such a registry, which will provide a foundation for identifying victims and informing future reparations. Our work is to bring survivors’ experiences into discussions about how the registry should be framed, with particular attention to the recognition of victims, what support should be prioritised, and how sensitive information should be protected.
For the commission, the challenge is to establish an approach that reflects the extent of suffering across Syria and implement a reparation programme that is fair in a country still grappling with the legacy of decades of conflict and dictatorship.
We have a responsibility to recognise the different harms victims have suffered. At the same time, we have to make difficult decisions about where to begin. Those decisions must be clear to survivors, and victims must understand how their circumstances are being considered.
— Ahmed Hazrome, Head of Reparations at the National Commission on Transitional Justice.
Across Syria, GSF has organised consultations with survivors, non-governmental organisations, and survivor networks to understand what they want to see in a registry. They also shared how sexual violence committed during the Assad regime continues to shape their daily lives; among many other issues, untreated injuries and psychological distress prevent people from moving forward in life and working or caring for their families.To add to this, women who survived detention and sexual violence may – and often do – encounter stigma that makes seeking support difficult or unsafe.
These experiences are helping inform discussions about the registry’s scope. Many survivors have been the victim of several violations, and the consequences of such crimes are also felt by their children, spouses and parents, meaning family members may also be entitled to reparation. A credible system will need to accommodate this complexity without forcing people’s lives into categories that overlook significant parts of their experience. Broad categorisations of survivors’ experiences, such as ‘torture’, may also minimise survivors’ lived experiences of chemical attacks, displacement, and so on.
An area of Damascus that was targeted during the civil war. GSF.
Suffering in Syria exists on many layers and must be recognised as such, and the commission will have the arduous task of designing a system that determines the scope of violations in a way that is fair to survivors across the spectrum. A victim’s registry will help define this scope.
Prioritisation of needs is another pertinent issue. Survivors have emphasised the urgency of addressing their deteriorating health, which exacerbates both the harm they suffered and further health risks that deepen with delay. Their perspectives offer guidance on where an initial response could begin, while recognising that broader needs will require sustained resources and longer-term action.
People with serious health conditions will only get worse without immediate support. The harm has not stopped.
— Woman survivor in Hama.
Survivor protection must be built into the process from the outset. In Syria, years of repression, detention and conflict can make sharing personal information feel unsafe. Survivors need to know why information is requested, who can access it and how it may be shared. For those who fear stigma, discrimination or retaliation against themselves or their families, clear confidentiality safeguards are essential to building trust and making participation possible.
“We have a big responsibility to collect information, and to do it responsibly. We need to make sure that survivors are protected first,” says Ahmed Hazrome, Head of Reparations at the National Commission on Transitional Justice.
Verification also requires careful consideration. Documents and evidence may be missing, incomplete, or unable to reflect what happened to people who were detained. Survivors have highlighted the importance of considering testimonies, medical evidence, and trusted community knowledge alongside official records. The challenge is to establish credible procedures that remain accessible to people with different circumstances and sources of evidence.
The continued participation of survivors will help identify barriers and test whether proposed approaches respond to the realities people face.
We need to be honest with survivors about what can be done now and what will take longer. They should be able to understand the process, raise concerns and see how their perspectives are influencing our work.
— Yasmeen Meshaan, Head of Reparations at the National Commission on Transitional Justice.
That relationship will be central to the registry’s credibility. Many survivors have already shared their experiences with survivor associations and organisations documenting human rights violations, without receiving clear information about what happened next. Many have shared their stories – which comes with the risk of re-traumatisation and security concerns – only to never hear from the organisations again. Building confidence will require consistent communication and opportunities to remain involved as decisions take shape.
We don’t trust documentation held by NGOs. Many benefited from our stories and made names for themselves, while leaving us behind instead of prioritising us.
— A survivor from Damascus.
Another survivor from the capital was clear in his expectations from the commission: “We want honesty and transparency from the Transitional Justice Commission,” he said. “Tell us what resources there are, how long we may need to wait, and what plans you have. Don’t give us false hope. Let us live with the reality.”
Our project in Syria is possible thanks to funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)