Available in:
Damascus – October 2025
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) received a delegation from the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), led by its Chairman, Robert Petit, at its Damascus office during an official visit to Syria in October 2025. The two sides discussed ways to expand and strengthen cooperation in the post-Assad era, including building robust files to hold accountable the most prominent perpetrators of violations within the former regime.
The discussion touched on the importance of establishing a special hybrid tribunal and launching specialized training programs for Syrian judges, prosecutors, and lawyers on complex investigation techniques into war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the chain of custody of evidence, digital evidence, and open source evidence.
The IIIM Report on the Detention System
The IIIM’s Chair, Mr. Robert Petit, delivered the Arabic version of the Mechanism’s report, entitled “The Syrian Government Detention System as a Tool of Violent Repression” to SNHR’s director, Mr. Fadel Abdulghany. The report addresses patterns of torture, cruel treatment, and enforced disappearance across more than 100 detention facilities. SNHR actively contributed to the report’s preparation through a substantial amount of data, documents, and information, a contribution the report repeatedly refers to.
SNHR’s Executive Director Comments on the visit
Fadel Abdulghany said: “The visit of the head of the IIIM comes at an important time to consolidate the process of accountability after the fall of the former regime. Our institutional cooperation with the Mechanism since 2019 has enabled the transfer of a significant amount of data and evidence according to judicial standards, and we intend to build on this to expedite the preparation of files against major perpetrators and enable the national judiciary to handle complex investigations. This is an essential step to guarantee the rights of victims and prevent impunity.”
