Human Rights Watch stressed the need for the Syrian government to preserve evidence and documents related to detainees who were in the prisons of the ousted regime.
The human rights organization said that tens of thousands of Syrians were forcibly disappeared by the security and intelligence services of the notorious former government, stressing that the families of the forcibly disappeared deserve to know the truth.
The WHO pointed out the need to preserve evidence of the atrocities committed by the former government, considering that this is the way for the transitional government to build "trust with the Syrian people."
The organization recommended during a visit to Damascus on December 11 and 12, securing, collecting and preserving evidence, including that found in mass grave sites and government records and archives, which will be essential in future criminal trials and legal proceedings.
In turn, the Syrian Network for Human Rights called on the Syrian government to investigate the "Sawaed Al-Khair Team" after they vandalized crime scenes, reiterating the need to protect crime scenes and prevent unauthorized entry.
The local rights group said that on January 13, 2025, the volunteer group "Sawaed Al-Khair" posted a video on its Facebook page showing its entry into a detention center in Latakia, Syria, where team members painted the center's walls and tampered with its contents.
The network stressed that this irresponsible behavior poses a direct threat to efforts to document the violations that are believed to have occurred in this center, including identifying the fate of detainees and holding accountable those involved in their torture.
SNHR statement pointed to the impact of tampering with a crime scene, as international laws criminalize tampering with a crime scene, as penalties may reach 20 years in prison or large fines or both, because such acts are often deliberate with the aim of obliterating evidence. In this context, the network stresses that tampering with crime scenes undermines justice and delays efforts to identify and hold perpetrators accountable. The Syrian Network recommended opening an urgent investigation into the incident, holding accountable those responsible for this violation that threatens to obscure the traces of crimes, and protecting evidence from environmental damage: by providing appropriate means of protection such as tarpaulins, documentation and preservation such as photographing the crime scene accurately from multiple angles, and keeping a comprehensive record of every element dealt with.
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