The opening of an art exhibition titled “The Disappeared and Detained: A Creative Memory” at the National Museum in Damascus on Sunday coincided with a presidential announcement on the formation of two bodies tasked with transitional justice and uncovering the fate of Syria’s missing.
Syrian Culture Minister Mohammad Al-Saleh told Asharq Al-Awsat that the newly issued decrees, particularly the one concerning the forcibly disappeared and missing persons, mark “a restoration of dignity through completing the picture.”
“There can be no genuine culture without truth,” he said, adding that uncovering the fate of the missing is a form of restoring dignity. He described art exhibitions addressing the issue as a reminder that “art is part of people’s lives” and a means of “participation and healing on all levels.”
The halls of the National Museum in Damascus have turned into a platform for ongoing national dialogue over transitional justice and the fate of Syria’s missing, a debate that has gained renewed momentum since the fall of the regime.
The launch of the exhibition coincided with President Ahmed al-Sharaa decreeing to establish two bodies: one for transitional justice and another to investigate the fate of missing persons.
Visitors and participants expressed mixed reactions, according to comments gathered by Asharq Al-Awsat.
Some voiced optimism about the decrees, while others said they would withhold judgment until the outcome of the newly formed committees became clear. Several called for the inclusion of families of the missing, victims, civil society groups, and human rights organizations that have long worked on the transitional justice track.
Others criticized the separation of the missing persons commission from the transitional justice body. Social Affairs and Labour Minister Hind Kabawat told Asharq Al-Awsat that the split was “purely technical and meant to streamline the work,” noting that significant efforts are underway to form the committees.
She stressed the importance of “remembering through art and beauty as a path toward healing.”
The head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has criticized the formation of a new commission on missing persons, warning that its separation from the transitional justice body risks adding bureaucratic complexity and undermines legitimacy.
In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, SNHR Director Fadel Abdulghany said the newly announced commission should instead be a unified “truth commission” encompassing all victims under the transitional justice framework.
“These bodies cannot be established by presidential decree,” Abdulghany said. “They require legislation passed by a legislative council, which is essential for establishing legitimacy.”
He emphasized the importance of a clear mandate, broad victim and civil society participation, and legal safeguards to ensure both financial and administrative independence.
“Most crucial is independence from the executive authority,” he said.
Abdulghany also raised concerns about the decree’s language, noting that it grants the head of the commission the power to appoint committee members without specifying any criteria for selection.
“This effectively means the executive branch appoints all members,” he said.
He pointed to a key omission: the decree makes no mention of including civil society organizations, rights groups, or victims’ associations in the process.
Syrian lawyer Hussein Issa welcomed presidential decrees 19 and 20 establishing commissions for transitional justice and missing persons, calling their numbering a “striking symbolic coincidence.”
Issa noted that the numbers match those of two controversial laws enacted by the former regime: the counterterrorism law and the law that established the terrorism court, both widely blamed for the detention and suffering of hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
“It’s an oddly positive coincidence,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, viewing it as a symbolic reversal of past repression.
However, Issa expressed regret that no dialogue took place between the commissions and victims’ families prior to the decrees.
He urged authorities to address this shortcoming, stressing that victims, families of the missing, and those subjected to enforced disappearance are central stakeholders in justice and reparations.
He also warned against overlooking the efforts of civil society and rights organizations, particularly those who worked on the ground in regime-held areas.
“None of the activists or human rights defenders in this field were consulted before the decrees were issued,” he said.
