The Syrian revolution is caught in a complex web of challenges, including a nonviolent movement in decline, volatile militant groups on the rise, and regional and international actors who are more active in the conflict than Syrians themselves. However, hidden within this grim reality, there are still nonviolent activists who work both in the shadows and in broad daylight, within the borders of Syria and abroad.
These people strive to keep the flame of nonviolent revolution alive, despite the overwhelming forces working against them. Dawlaty conversed over a period of six months with these activists, encouraging them to search for new tools, question past choices, and analyze the successes and failures of the nonviolent movement in Syria. This report is the fruit of that dialogue
Transitional justice is the means through which Syria can confront its past and start the process of rebuilding a sustainable peace. It can help break cycles of impunity and violence that have destabilised society in the past; empower and restore the dignity of victims; provide a basis for reforming political structures and restoring the rule of law; and secure a foundation for reconciliation initiatives. Transitional justice is not the only approach Syria .will need to overcome its past and achieve peace and stability, but it is an important tool to reach those goals.
Idlib's frontline humanitarians and activists are proving another Syria is possible. Read their stories.
“The only way to create a new Syria is through civil society. There’s no other way. It can’t happen through weapons, it can’t happen through realities that others are trying to impose. What will get us to the Syria we dream of is the collective power of civil society through their different work and visions.
“After seven years I know that change happens on the individual level, not by changing the head of the regime. We’ve been oppressed for 50 years. This regime has planted a small Assad inside each one of us. Working on the individual is the only way for salvation.” - Raed Fares, Union of Revolutionary Bureaus
