Syria’s top diplomat meets ICC prosecutor to discuss transitional justice for Syrians

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Thursday that he met with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in The Hague to discuss transitional justice for the Syrian people.

Writing on his X account, Shaibani said the meeting with Khan “enhanced the path towards transitional justice" for the Syrian people.

"For 14 years, and even long before that, the world has failed to achieve justice for the Syrian people, who have endured indescribable crimes," he said.

The top diplomat said through a Syrian-led justice process, "we are moving forward alongside the international community to hold criminals (of the former regime) accountable and ensure that justice prevails."

Regarding his meeting with Catherine Bomberger, the Director General of the International Commission on Missing Persons, Shaibani said the meeting aimed to boost cooperation in searching for forcibly disappeared persons and revealing the fate of the missing in Syria.

"We will not rest until we know the fate of every missing person, or until every family gets its right to know the truth and grieve in peace," he added.

According to Syrian rights groups, the number of forcibly disappeared people in Syria exceeds 112,000, whose whereabouts were not found after locating and opening all prisons of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime.

In 2011, Assad labeled demonstrators calling for a free Syria as "terrorists" and unleashed security forces on them, leading to a civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions.

The Assad regime also launched at least 217 chemical attacks, killing thousands, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).

The SNHR has documented over 16,200 individuals linked to crimes committed under the Assad regime, including 6,724 former military and security officials and 9,476 associated with regime-aligned militias.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period on Jan. 29.