A year after the fall of Assad’s regime, DeFacto Dialogue Platform and Syrians for Truth and Justice held today, Thursday 10/12/2025, a workshop in the French capital Paris titled: “Syria After a Year of Transformation: An Analytical Reading of Transformation Pathways and Public Decision-making”
The workshop deals with four pivotal areas:
Key transformations within the first year of change (prospects and challenges).
The interim constitutional declaration as a regulatory framework for the transition.
The issue of governance and the form of state.
Transitional justice in the Syrian context.
Participants gave the following recommendations which we have consequently divided into urgent, short-term, and long-term priorities, which can be considered strategic in forming national identity:
Urgent priorities:
Forming an independent national committee to review the constitutional declaration and fill the gaps.
Issuing a temporary law on parties and freedoms with a specified deadline.
Immediate activation of transitional justice body, with a clear plan for prosecutions and reparation.
Lunching psychological and social support programs for the victims.
Redefining the concept of “protection” legally and constitutionally while linking it to citizenship rights.
Integrating March 10th agreement within a comprehensive national framework that surpasses ‘military item’.
Developing a media code of conduct that limits incitement and hate speech.
Launching independent national media platforms to publish trusted information.
Reinforcing the international coalition against terrorism and consolidating stability.
Mid-term stage:
Organize a comprehensive national conference to draft the permanent constitution with wide participation.
Consolidating participatory decentralization using laws on local governance, finance, and services.
Developing temporary tribunals to address major crimes with witness protection guarantees.
Launching national awareness campaigns to spread knowledge on transitional justice in order to prevent retaliation.
Forming local civil security forces under local administrations’ supervision.
Establishing international monitoring mechanisms to prevent descending into civil violence.
Conducting trainings for journalists on ethical journalism in violent settings.
Establishing a media and social media monitoring national body.
Developing partnerships with supporting states for reconstruction and basic services.
Involving international community in monitoring transitional justice.
Long-term stage: strategic steps
Building modern state institutions based on separation of powers and independence of judiciary.
Developing a sustainable decentralized system of governance that balances state unity with rights of different components.
Integrating transitional justice in the permanent judicial system.
Building a collective national memory via violation documentation and archiving centres.
Building a neutral, non-politicized national military institution.
Solidifying the culture of societal security via training programs and awareness campaigns.
Building a media culture based on accountability and transparency.
Integrating media education into educational curricula.
Consolidating Syria’s position as a unified, sovereign state through balanced relations with international powers.
Building an internationally recognized model of constitutional decentralization.
