FRANCE 24 spoke to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk about the end of the Assad regime, brought down by a lightning offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). With the old regime gone, Turk said there is now a “huge opportunity to craft a new Syria, which is anchored in human rights”, emphasising the country’s active civil society.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani said a list of high level officials responsible for crimes and torture was being drafted, so they can be punished.
Asked if he was concerned about the risk of personal vendettas, Turk said whoever has committed crimes “needs to be brought to justice” while pointing to the need in Syria for a justice system that guarantees fair trials as well as an independent judiciary.
“What is of the utmost importance now is to establish a rule of law system and judicial system that delivers on that account, and that is a massive reform that is needed ahead of whatever justice system that is going to be established,” Turk said.
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