The Center for Civil Society and Democracy in Syria, CCSDS has published a survey about Transitional Justice in Syria that was built upon a project by the center called “Let’s Discuss!” The idea behind the project was to introduce the concept of transitional justice, explain its mechanisms and recognize the methods of implementing it in Syria, solicit suggestions from the Syrian people about the best forms for this implementation in the future, and encourage people to peacefully attain their political objectives and achieve coexistence.
The project began by initiating discussion circles in most of the Syrian provinces, with a focus on three: Aleppo, Idlib, and Al Hasaka. The targeted audience was also consulted through questionnaires distributed at the end of each discussion circle. The number of the questionnaires reached 1,000; however, the aim is to reach 10,000 participants in 2014. This survey raises a number of necessary and important questions driven by analysis of participants’ answers in the questionnaires. After the CCSDS research team collected the questionnaires and analyzed the results, they came up with a number of results that indicated Syrian perspectives on the ground.
The research team believes that all Syrians should contemplate those results and consider solutions. The research also sheds light on the experiences of some countries, which were/are still involved in the transitional justice process such as Morocco, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina. The report also discusses the advantages and disadvantages for such a process in order to be relevant for and applicable to the Syrian situation.
It is worth mentioning that the world has witnessed more than 30 experiences of transitional justice, so it is necessary, and viable, for Syria to put an end to the armed conflict and start healing its wounds in order to then to start rebuilding what has been destroyed on economic, social, and cultural levels. Rebuilding through a process of transitional justice is critical for any country that witnessed conflict. In order to start a natural stage of prosperity, to resolve the complex cases preceding and dealing with the conflict, it is necessary to go through the process of transitional justice and to implement its mechanisms and create new mechanisms that are suitable in its own national context, in addition to increasing public familiarity with the previous experiences of other countries. So, it is the duty of all Syrians to begin to establish a clear vision of this stage, for it is incredibly significant for them to make the first step to build their desired state.
To read and download the Report, please click here