Syria endured five decades of authoritarian rule marked by widespread and systematic human rights violations, followed by fourteen years of brutal war involving extensive breaches of international humanitarian law by all sides. In just eleven days, rebel forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the Assad regime in an offensive that culminated in Bashar Al Assad’s abrupt departure for exile on December 8, 2024.
This marks a watershed moment in Syria’s history, providing significant opportunities for political transition, justice, accountability, reconstruction, and reconciliation. And while this unfolding transitional period holds great promise, it also poses substantial challenges. Recent sectarian massacres that took place in Syria’s coastal regions, where 1,300 people, most of them civilians from Syria’s Alawite community, the sect to which the Assad family belonged, were killed, underscore the ongoing threat of sectarian tensions that continues to undermine peace and stability for all Syrians.
Syrians of all political persuasions are wary of the origins of the HTS, which until 2016 was affiliated with al-Qaeda and, before that, with ISIS. They worry that the country’s ethnic, religious, and cultural mosaic is not reflected in the caretaker government. Many who appreciated the role of the HTS in toppling Assad are nonetheless concerned about power-sharing, inclusion, and ideological overreach in the post-Assad transitional period. The key to a successful transition to democracy in Syria is inclusion, but its achievement remains challenging.
This brief will highlight some of the main challenges that civil society actors will have to confront in post-Assad Syria, focusing on four key areas: (1) Women’s rights and issues of pluralism and inclusiveness; (2) Accountability for past crimes and transitional justice; (3) Revenge and sectarian killings; and (4) A collapsed economy resulting from prolonged war and decades of sanctions.