For five decades, Amnesty International investigated and documented human rights violations in Syria committed by the governments of Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad. Under the Assads’ rule, more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been forcibly disappeared. Arbitrary arrest and torture were commonly used by the security forces to crush dissent.
Following Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December 2025, Syria’s new transitional government, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has a crucial opportunity to break with the past. This opportunity must not be squandered. Amnesty International is calling on Syria’s new government to take concrete steps towards justice and truth and undertake urgent reforms to prevent further violations. This is the only way to address the country’s legacy of human rights abuses.