ReutersSyrian rebel forces have said they plan to close the notoriously harsh prisons run by ousted President Bashar al-Assad and hunt down those involved in killing or torturing prisoners.
Rebel leader Ahmad al-Shara, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, also said he would disband the former government’s security forces, in a statement seen by Reuters.
Videos emerged after the Assad regime was toppled on Sunday showing thousands of prisoners being released from Saydnaya prison – which rights groups have called a “human slaughterhouse”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said around 60,000 people were tortured and killed in prisons run by Bashar al-Assad.
Jolani’s Islamist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led other Syrian rebel factions in a lightning operation that toppled the Assad family’s 54-year rule.
Assad fled to Russia in the early hours of Sunday, where he and his family have been granted asylum after rebels seized the capital, Damascus.
In a separate statement, Jolani said amnesty for those who participated in the torture or killing of prisoners was out of the question.
“We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who have escaped so we can get justice,” he said.
Since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians have flocked to the regime’s notorious prisons in search of loved ones. In a 2022 report, the Turkey-based Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saidnaya Prison (ADMSP) said Saidnaya “effectively became a death camp” After the start of the civil war in 2011.
Jolani also said that he would disband the former Assad regime’s security forces. It is unclear how quickly they can be rebuilt by rebel fighters amid fears of Israeli attacks on the country’s military infrastructure.
In a statement seen by Reuters, Jolani said his group was working with international organizations to secure potential chemical weapons sites.
When asked about the Reuters report, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the US “welcomed” Jolani’s words but said they needed to be dealt with.
“Our focus is to ensure that these chemical weapons do not fall into the wrong hands,” he added.
It comes after that. Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks throughout Syria. and seized several military assets.
According to local media reports, one attack targeted a research facility suspected of being linked to the development of chemical weapons.
Israel says it is taking action to stop “weapons getting into the hands of extremists”.
A chemical weapon is defined by the United Nations chemical watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as a chemical used to cause death or harm intentionally through its toxic properties.
Their use is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Between 2013 and 2018, Human Rights Watch documented at least 85 chemical weapons attacks in Syria, most of which were blamed on the deposed government.
Assad’s government has denied ever using chemical weapons.
Syria signed the OPCW’s chemical weapons certificate in 2013, after a chemical weapons attack in Damascus suburbs killed more than 1,400 people a month later.
It is not known how many chemical weapons Syria has, but it is believed that Assad has stockpiled and that what he declared was incomplete.
There are victims of chemical attacks in Syria. Recently spoke to the BBC. About the devastating effects they have experienced.
Meanwhile, European foreign ministers are meeting in Berlin on Thursday for critical talks on Syria and Ukraine.
A day later, G7 leaders will also discuss the latest developments in Syria in a virtual meeting, the White House said.