Syria’s Justice Ministry Tells TML As-Suwayda Investigation Committee Will Hold Public Trials. Will the Truth Be Uncovered?

Officials frame public trials as a transparency test after July’s clashes, with legal observers watching for access rules, indictments, and independent monitoring

[DAMASCUS] Syria’s Justice Ministry will hold public trials in As-Suwayda for suspects tied to July’s clashes, Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais ordered this week, presenting the proceedings as a test of transparency after months of unrest in the Druze-majority province. Public access is central to the plan: In a phone call with The Media Line, the ministry’s Media Office said the goal was “to ensure justice and prevent impunity,” adding that “everyone involved in the violations will be held accountable, whether they belong to remnants of the former regime or to those who targeted civilians.” A ministry media source added, “When the time comes, people will see that no one is above the law.” Exclusive information obtained by The Media Line indicates the hearings will be open to the public so that everyone can follow them.

What is new is not the investigation itself but the decision to open the courtroom doors. Public proceedings in politically sensitive cases are rare in Syria, and legal observers say credibility will hinge on whether indictments, evidence, and verdicts are made available—and whether independent observers can attend. Officials also caution that the path to uncovering the truth does not seem easy amid major security challenges and the political and social sensitivity surrounding the southern province.

Weeks before the announcement, the government formed a special committee to examine last July’s events in As-Suwayda, where clashes between local groups and regime forces resulted in deaths, injuries, and the displacement of families. The panel includes representatives from the Ministry of Justice and coordinates with security agencies, and it has already arrested several people involved while continuing to collect evidence and victim testimony in preparation for its findings.

Judge Fadi Awwad chairs the committee, which draws members from the legal, security, and human-rights sectors. Speaking to The Media Line, committee spokesperson Ammar Ezzedine said the work is being carried out “in complete independence and according to professional and national standards,” noting that the Ministry of Defense has provided the facilities needed for investigators to perform their tasks. “The investigations are being conducted with complete transparency, and the results will be presented to the public once completed.”

Fieldwork has been uneven. According to Ezzedine, teams began collecting evidence and receiving testimony from residents and the wounded, but security and logistical obstacles blocked access to several tense areas in As-Suwayda’s countryside. He added that the field team “was able to reach the city and collect testimonies through local mediators and civil organizations,” while “work was temporarily suspended in some areas for purely security reasons.” Conditions on the ground remain fragile across parts of the province, limiting access to all affected sites. Even so, the committee says it has compiled an integrated database on alleged violations, including unlawful arrests and clashes that caused civilian casualties.

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No one is above the law

Accountability, officials insist, will apply across the board. Ezzedine said the aim is not only “determining what happened,” but also defining legal and criminal responsibility and issuing recommendations to prevent a repeat of such abuses. Regarding accusations against Syrian government forces of committing massacres against civilians in As-Suwayda, he added that perpetrators—whether state-affiliated or members of armed gangs—will be held to account: “No one is above the law.”

A deliberate and coordinated campaign of extermination and persecution

Broader pressure is building in parallel. Israel’s Druze leadership has petitioned the United Nations to open an international inquiry into what it calls systematic atrocities against Druze civilians in Syria’s As-Suwayda province, alleging massacres, kidnappings, torture, sexual violence, and mass displacement since July 2025. Attorney Yael Vias Gvirsman said the evidence demonstrates “a deliberate and coordinated campaign of extermination and persecution.” Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif said the appeal was filed out of “an urgent need to draw global attention to the near-destruction of the Druze community in Syria.”

The public-trial plan unfolds against years of mounting strain in As-Suwayda. The southern province, home to much of Syria’s Druze community, maintained relative neutrality early in the war, but protests over collapsing living conditions grew in 2020 and evolved in 2023 into open calls for the regime’s fall. The government tightened its security posture and imposed a partial blockade on the city, while local armed groups formed committees to “protect the protesters.” That standoff set the stage for July’s violence—and for the current inquiry. Suwayda also represents a unique social case within Syria, thanks to its tribal composition and relative autonomy from central authority, which makes any government action there doubly sensitive and potentially widens the trust gap between the state and local society.

Officials portray the public-trial plan and the committee’s work as part of an effort to project a commitment to justice and accountability at a time of heightened scrutiny over human-rights practices. Skeptics of Syrian politics question the committee’s independence, warning that “political intent may override the judicial path,” especially if results are not fully published or are constrained by security considerations.

What to watch next is whether the ministry publishes a trial calendar and access rules, clarifies charges and jurisdiction, and permits independent monitoring—steps that will determine whether As-Suwayda’s cases mark a substantive shift or merely the appearance of one. “If the committee manages to uncover the full truth, it will be a precedent in the history of modern Syrian justice; but if the files are closed without accountability, trust will erode once again.” Between promises of public trials and the constraints on the ground, the As-Suwayda issue stands at a crossroads. Authorities say they are moving forward toward justice, while residents wait for tangible results that could end years of ambiguity and violence.