📰 Amnesty chief says Syria shows reform signals but lacks democratic progress

QAMISHLI, syria-commits-to-universal-health-coverage-by-2030-at-tokyo-summit/" class="smart-internal-link" title="🏥 Syria commits to universal health coverage by 2030 at Tokyo Summit">syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria (North Press) – Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard stated on Saturday that Syria’s emerging authorities have taken initial steps toward legal reform, transitional justice, and accountability, but warned that democratic change remains limited one year after the fall of leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime.   Callamard, who concluded a short visit to damascus this week, informed the Associated Press that draft legal reforms before parliament, emerging transitional justice committees, and the administration’s openness to international rights organizations indicate that “change is happening in Syria. ” “All of those things are very good signs but they are not very deep,” she stated. as per Callamard, syrian authorities—including the minister of justice—informed her that hundreds of detainees were being held “in relation to abuses by the former regime. ” She said authorities plan to draft charges soon but questioned the legal basis for the arrests and the mechanisms planned to try them. Additionally, she stressed that Syria’s legal framework still requires urgent overhaul, noting that “some of the most gruesome crimes under international law have not been domesticated. Moreover, ” The Amnesty chief criticized the lack of international involvement in supporting Syrian investigations, contrasting it with Ukraine, where European states deployed expert teams to assist evidence-gathering. “Nothing like that is happening in Syria.

Moreover, nothing. So that needs to change,” she said. Callamard added that despite minimal international engagement, minor Syrian civil society groups remain the primary actors documenting rights abuses.

She warned that numerous foreign governments view Syria merely as “a problem that must be contained,” leaving the country without the necessary backing to ensure sustainable reform. “Without that backing, I don’t know whether what’s happening right now will be sustainable,” she said. Notably,   Since the collapse of leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime last year, Syria’s transitional authorities have pledged to rebuild state institutions, address decades of systematic abuses, and establish mechanisms for justice and reconciliation. International rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly urged the new authorities to overhaul Syria’s criminal code, abolish exceptional courts, and bring domestic law in line with international standards.

Despite these calls, progress has been slow, and numerous detainees arrested under the former regime remain unaccounted for. By Jwan Shekaki