GENERAL
The new Syrian government faces serious and significant challenges and real tests in the field of human rights, amidst local and international demands urging the authorities to refrain from repeating the series of grave violations that prevailed under the ousted dictatorship. Various international mechanisms, including those of the United Nations, have also stressed the necessity of implementing fundamental reforms, including amending all repressive laws, guaranteeing the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, and protecting the civil and human rights of all citizens without discrimination or exception.
According to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), legislative reform can be considered a crucial first step in the effort to rebuild the state and strengthen its stability on all political, economic, social, and administrative levels. This includes working to ensure the independence of the judiciary and preventing political and security interference in its decisions, and enacting laws that protect the rights of all citizens and enshrine public freedoms, including freedom of expression online and offline, freedom of peaceful assembly, and the right to freely elect representatives of the people.
Local and international human rights movements, including prominent civil society organisations in Syria, have worked to document the grave human rights violations committed by the previous government and has attempted to bring the perpetrators to justice through national or international courts. This has been achieved despite the significant difficulties arising from the complexities of the political situation and the continued impunity. The new government has made repeated promises to bring past and present perpetrators to a fair trial, but has accomplished little in this area. Deficiencies in women’s participation in public life must be addressed and the authorities must cooperate with international mechanisms, including the UN, to share expertise and contribute to the successful management of the transitional phase. The right to free and fair elections must also be guaranteed.
Aleppo-based #journalists call for a protest to demand clarity on the fate of journalists Mahmoud Al-Khatib and Murad Mahalli. Mahmoud has been missing for 567 days, while Murad has been detained for 247 days in a Ministry of Interior prison. https://t.co/3PGXfxDXzI
— Mohammad Alasakra (@mohammed_asakra) August 27, 2026
Peaceful Assembly
On 29th August 2026, a number of journalists, along with other activists and citizens, held a protest in front of the Internal Security Directorate in Aleppo, demanding information on the fate of journalists Mahmoud Al-Khatib, who has been missing for more than 567 days, and Murad Mahli, who has been detained in Ministry of Interior prisons for more than 247 days without specific charges being brought against him or his case being referred to the judiciary.
The protesters also demanded a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the two cases and that those responsible for their enforced disappearance be held accountable.
Al-Khatib was abducted by military leaders in the city of Marea, north of Aleppo, at the beginning of February 2025. He has remained forcibly disappeared ever since. Mahli, who is from the city of Jarabulus in the eastern Aleppo countryside and worked as the director of the Jarabulus Media Office, has been held in one of the Ministry of Interior’s prisons in Aleppo since his arrest and enforced disappearance by security forces on 27th December 2025.
Separately, dozens of students and their families staged a sit-in at the Stadium Roundabout in Suwayda on 29th August 2026, to protest being prevented by the National Guard militias from travelling to examination centres in the northern Suwayda countryside to take their supplementary exams. Reliable local sources confirmed that buses transporting students were forced to turn back from areas such as the Anqoud Roundabout.
Expression
On 5th August 2026, engineer and political activist Antoine (Tony) Daniel was arbitrarily arrested without a warrant in front of the Engineers Syndicate building in Latakia. He was released the following day after a widespread social media campaign in solidarity with him. His arrest stemmed from his criticism of what he described as financial and administrative corruption within the Engineers Syndicate during an appearance on the “Salon Al-Jumhuriya” programme hosted by journalist Ahmad Fakhoury. Many local observers described the arrest as “akin to abduction.” His arrest was linked to a complaint concerning Cybercrime Law No. 20 of 2022, which GCHR has previously criticised as a law that threatens freedom of expression online and all digital rights.
A few days earlier, on 31st July 2026, Dr. Hussein Ali Al-Humaid was arrested at the Syrian-Lebanese border upon his arrival from Germany, where he also holds citizenship. He was charged with “undermining the prestige of the state” under the Cybercrime Law for social media posts criticising the general situation in the country.
Both Al-Humaid and Daniel (see previous incident above) were released on 6th August 2026, following a widespread solidarity campaign on social media. Informed local sources confirmed that an unspecified number of people, including journalists, bloggers, and online activists from various Syrian regions, particularly Damascus and Latakia, have been summoned and detained for expressing their critical opinions on public affairs online.
These arrests come despite a June 2026 directive issued by the Ministry of Justice to all judicial authorities to fully comply with Circular No. 26, which provides procedures for dealing with cybercrimes in a way that guarantees citizens’ rights and freedoms, and prohibits resorting to pretrial detention except in cases permitted by law (more details below).
On 24th July 2026, Amnesty International stated that the Syrian authorities must suspend implementation of and substantially amend Law No. 20 of 2022 on Combating Cybercrime, passed by the former Bashar al-Assad government, to bring it in line with Syria’s obligations under international human rights law. In June 2026, Syria’s Ministry of Justice announced a review of the cybercrime law and introduced some limitations around its use (see more in next paragraph), yet it continues to be used to restrict the right to freedom of expression. Amnesty International documented five cases of journalists and activists who were detained for their online expression between January and June 2026 for periods of up to seven days under the 2022 Cybercrime Law. All five were arrested under provisions of the law that criminalise peaceful online expression through broadly and vaguely defined offences, including “undermining the prestige of the state,” “undermining the state’s financial standing,” and “electronic defamation.” Two of those individuals are facing criminal prosecution which could result in heavy prison sentences.
On 21st June 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced the formation of legal and technical committees to review a number of laws, including the Cybercrime Law. The authorities announced some procedural safeguards around the implementation of the Cybercrime Law. On 26th June, the Ministry of Justice issued a circular requiring judicial authorisation before specialised investigations are initiated and prohibiting pretrial detention except in exceptional circumstances such as “for preserving evidence, preventing influence over witnesses or the victim, or preventing a danger to society or to the suspect.” The circular also limits wanted notices and search measures to exceptional circumstances, and establishes a review of previously issued search notices. However, even with these procedural safeguards, the cybercrime law allows for interference with the right to privacy and carries prison sentences for speech-related offences that are protected by freedom of expression.