clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

UN rights chief calls for lifting Western sanctions on Syria

January 16, 2025 at 9:37 am

United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk holds a press conference in Damascus, Syria on January 15, 2025 [Erçin Ertürk/Anadolu Agency]

The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, yesterday urged the West to lift sanctions imposed on Syria, now that former regime leader Bashar Al-Assad has been ousted.

Turk arrived in Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Tuesday for the first ever visit of the global body’s rights chief to the country, more than a month after opposition factions toppled the Assad regime.

The UN official said, “transitional justice is very important as Syria moves towards the future,” adding that “revenge and vengeance are never the answer.”

“It will be critical to bear in mind the impact sanctions have on the lives of the Syrian people,” Turk said. “I therefore call for an urgent reconsideration of sectoral sanctions with a view to lifting them.”

“Cases of enforced disappearance, torture, the use of chemical weapons, and other crimes must be fully investigated. After that, justice must be achieved in a fair and impartial manner.”

READ: Turkiye aims to reach $10bn in trade with Syria

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 100,000 people have died  in Syrian prisons and detention centres since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.

Since Al-Assad was ousted, Syrians have discovered numerous sites holding mass graves of unknown victims of the regime.

During his visit, Turk met with the leader of the interim administration in Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and discussed “opportunities and challenges awaiting the new Syria.”

He quoted Al-Sharaa as stressing “the importance of respecting human rights for all Syrians and all components of Syrian society,” adding that he supported “recovery, building trust, social cohesion, and reforming institutions.”