Bashar al-Assad

Syria: Over 528,500 Deaths in 14 Years of War

The war in Syria has claimed more than 528,500 lives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Wednesday, marking nearly 14 years of a devastating conflict triggered by the regime of Bashar al-Assad’s violent crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising. Assad was overthrown on December 8 2024. More than 181,939 civilians are among ...

Syria's New Information Minister Promises "Free" Press

Syria's minister of information in the country's transitional government told AFP he is working towards a free press and committed to "freedom of expression" after decades of tight control under the country's former rulers. "We are working to consolidate freedoms of the press and expression that were severely restricted" in areas controlled by ...

Syria Welcomes the New Year With Hope After Assad's Fall

Umayyad Square in Damascus hummed to the throngs of people brandishing "revolution" flags as Syria saw in the new year with hope following 13 years of civil war. Gunshots rang out from Mount Qasioun overlooking the capital, where hundreds of people gazed up at fireworks, an AFP reporter at the square saw. It was the first new year's celebration ...

Silent Protest in Damascus Demands Justice for Assad Regime's Disappeared

A silent crowd gathered in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Friday to press the new authorities about the fate of relatives who went missing under Bashar al-Assad and to demand justice for their loved ones. The fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Assad, who was ousted on December 8 by a coalition of Islamist-led rebels, is a ...

Syrian Authorities Arrest Official Responsible for Saydnaya Death Penalties

Syria's new authorities have arrested a military justice official who under ousted president Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison, a war monitor said Thursday. The confirmation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of his detention came a day after deadly clashes erupted in the coastal ...

Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site Outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war. In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the ...

Rights Groups Urge Protection of Evidence of Assad’s Abuses

Three rights group on Monday appealed to Syria's new rulers to urgently preserve evidence of atrocities committed under former president Bashar al-Assad. Such evidence -- including government and intelligence documents as well as mass graves -- will be essential for establishing the fate of tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared, ...

Can Bashar al-Assad Be Judged for His Crimes?

War crimes, crimes against humanity, the use of chemical weapons against civilians… The accusations directed at former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad raise pressing questions, particularly following the fall of his regime on December 8: can he be brought to justice? If so, through what legal mechanisms? And what about the status he enjoys in ...

Syria's New Rulers Step Up Engagement With The World

Syria's new rulers stepped up engagement on Tuesday with countries that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah, with the French flag raised at the embassy for the first time in over a decade. Assad fled Syria just over a week ago, as his forces abandoned tanks and other equipment in the face of a lightning offensive spearheaded by the ...

Syrian Soldiers Hand in Weapons, Hope for Quiet Lives

When Syria's new government put out a call on social media for soldiers and police to lay down their arms and register with the authorities, Kamal Merhej was happy to oblige. "I don't like the army, I want to get back on track with my life without anyone to give me orders," the 28-year-old told AFP. He spent nine years in the army, posted to the ...

Flash Villas, Cars and Drugs: Assad's Legacy in Latakia

The drive winds between manicured lavender-lined lawns to a crescent-shaped home with a gleaming swimming pool on the Syrian coast: Bashar al-Assad's holiday hideaway disgusts those who now come here. "To think that he spent all that money and we lived in misery," spat Mudar Ghanem, 26. He is grey-skinned and his eyes are sunken after spending ...