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Press Release
Damascus – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) today released a human rights report titled “Transitional Justice and Civil Peace: Mistakes of the Civil Peace Committee in Syria and the Need to Correct the Course.” The report examines the theoretical and conceptual framework of the relationship between transitional justice and civil peace, analyzes the nature of this complex relationship, and provides a detailed critical reading of the performance of the Civil Peace Committee established in Syria. It concludes with a set of conclusions and recommendations addressed to relevant stakeholders.
The report notes that the relationship between transitional justice and civil peace is one of the most complex challenges in post-conflict societies, as the demands of accountability for grave violations intersect with the imperatives of building societal stability. In this context, the report raises a number of fundamental questions about the possibility of reconciling the requirements of legal accountability with the needs of societal reconciliation in the Syrian situation.
The report begins with a definition of transitional justice as a system of processes and mechanisms adopted by society to address the legacy of violations, including prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations programs, institutional reforms, and memorialization initiatives. The report also explores the concept of civil peace as a state of societal harmony and cooperation, encompassing programs to prevent violence, transform conflicts, and strengthen the foundations of sustainable peace. This broad concept emphasizes long-term social, political, and economic stability.
The report emphasizes the points of convergence and complementarity between transitional justice and civil peace, reviewing the most prominent theoretical and practical tensions between the two approaches, while emphasizing the importance of transcending the false dichotomy of “peace versus justice” and the need to adapt models and concepts to suit the local context.
A Critical Analysis of the Work of the Civil Peace Committee
The report addresses the complex Syrian context and the resulting grave violations, including systematic killing, torture, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention. The report highlights the need for careful design of transitional justice mechanisms that are appropriate to the nature of the violations, warning of the lack of coordination between various bodies, including the Civil Peace Committee, the Transitional Justice Committee, and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances. The report highlights the most prominent issues related to the work of the Civil Peace Committee, including:
- Exceeding judicial authority, with the committee exercising executive powers related to release and pardon without legal authorization.
- Issuing pardon decisions without clear legal basis, which constitutes a violation of legal principles.
- Lack of standards and controls regulating the committee’s work, and issuing decisions without announcing their basis.
- Conflating the societal role on the one hand, and the judicial and executive role on the other, which threatens the principle of the independence of the judiciary.
Lack of Transparency and Accountability
The report identifies a number of procedural violations, most notably:
- Failure to publish the criteria underlying pardon and release decisions, undermining the principle of transparency.
- Ignoring victims’ rights to knowledge and participation in the decision-making process.
- Using general and non-specific justifications, such as “contributing to deterring aggression,” without sufficient clarification.
Negative Impacts on the Transitional Justice Process
The report documents a number of negative impacts resulting from the performance of the Civil Peace Committee, including:
- Undermining community confidence in the transitional justice process due to decisions made outside the legal framework.
- Sending false messages to victims suggesting that stability is prioritized over justice.
- Deepening the risk of impunity, which contributes to the reproduction of factors that led to conflict.
The Right Path: Towards True Integration
The report calls for a number of corrective steps, the most important of which are:
- Enacting a transitional justice law through the Legislative Council, ensuring broad community participation.
- Coordinating the four tracks of transitional justice: accountability, truth, reparations, and institutional reform.
- Respecting the independence of the judiciary and guaranteeing victims’ rights to litigate and file individual lawsuits.
- Benefiting from local and international expertise, adapting it to suit the Syrian reality.
Conclusions
The report concludes that transitional justice and civil peace are not mutually exclusive processes. The Civil Peace Committee’s practices, characterized by overreaching authority, lack of transparency, and disregard for victims’ rights, pose a real threat to the process of justice and undermine the prospects for sustainable peace.
Recommendations
First: To the Syrian Transitional Government
- Develop a comprehensive legal framework for transitional justice with the participation of all relevant parties.
- Redefine the functions of the Civil Peace Committee to focus on local dialogue and reconciliation.
- Ensure the independence of the judiciary and prevent any non-judicial body from interfering in its jurisdiction.
- Ensure transparency by publishing all pardons and release decisions, along with their justifications.
Second: The Civil Peace Committee
- Commitment to its societal role without exercising any judicial or executive powers.
- Enhancing community participation by organizing periodic hearings.
- Establishing a clear procedural manual and publicly announced standards governing the committee’s work, along with an independent oversight and evaluation mechanism.
Third: To the International Community:
- Provide technical and financial support for transitional justice initiatives.
- Train judges and investigators and support civil society organizations.
- Exchange expertise with countries that have undertaken similar transitional justice experiences.
General Recommendations for All Parties
- Commitment to the principle of “no peace without justice.”
- Adoption of a participatory approach to the transitional process.
- Benefiting from international experiences while adapting them to the Syrian context.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) affirms that the transitional justice process in Syria must be based on solid legal and human rights foundations that guarantee justice, transparency, and community participation. It also warns that any violation of these foundations, including intervention by the Civil Peace Committee outside its mandate, will undermine efforts to build a state of law and achieve sustainable community reconciliation.
