The Constitutional Committee Discusses the “Transitional Justice” Principle on the Fourth Day of the Eighth Session

The Constitutional Committee’s Small-Body concluded the work on the fourth day of the Eighth Session of the meetings of the Constitutional Committee on Thursday 2 June 2022. The three delegations discussed over two sessions the principle of “transitional justice” presented by seven members of the civil society delegation.

This principle stipulates that the state should commit to adopting a comprehensive approach for transitional justice, starting by preventing impunity and the fact that the statute of limitation does not apply to crimes nor they can be exempted by virtue of a pardon. In addition, victims and their families, especially women and children, should be at the center of attention, provided that such an approach consists of a number of judicial and non-judicial measures, including, inter alia, knowing the fate of the missing and the forcibly disappeared persons, accountability, reparations programs, institutional reform, and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) initiatives.

At the end of the sessions, Ahmad Al Israwi, a member of the Small Body, said “transitional justice is a key step toward a sense of sustainable peace. What has been presented by the colleagues of the third (the civil society) about transitional justice, contains a lot of the necessary steps that, if implemented objectively, will be an advanced step toward a political settlement in Syria. A settlement that aims at democratic national change based upon Geneva Communique and relevant international resolutions, especially UNSCR 2254 (2015) which contains non-negotiable provisions as enforceable rights for the Syrian people; such provisions are related to the detainees, the missing, the kidnapped, and the forcibly displaced persons. They help solidify the trust-building measures among Syrians to move forward on the negotiated political process with its four tracks, namely: the transitional governing body which secures a safe and neutral environment; the constitutional process, and the elections which secure participation for all Syrians at home and abroad in free and fair elections, with the objective conditions for that; and finally, security and counter-terrorism in all of its causes and incubators. I believe that arbitrary detention is one of the causes of terrorism”.

He concluded by saying that the regime delegation did not interact with the proposal.

The meetings in the past three days discussed the principle of “maintaining and strengthening state’s institutions” presented by the regime delegation, the principle of “unilateral coercive measures from a constitutional standpoint” presented by eight members of the civil society delegation, and the principle of “the supremacy of the Constitution and the position of international treaties” presented by the SNC delegation.

The Constitutional Committee’s Small-Body will meet on Friday 3 June 2022 to discuss the amendments and remarks on the four constitutional principles that were discussed in the past four days of the Eighth Session, to reach consensual language and recommendation of each one of the principles.

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