Damascus, Dec. 7 (SANA) The workshop of the “Together for Civil Peace and Social Cohesion” project, organized by the Rights Defense Initiative (RDI), concluded on Saturday with a set of recommendations aimed at advancing transitional justice, social cohesion, and accountability in Syria.
Held at Caesar Palace Hotel in Damascus, the workshop discussed the role of civil society in promoting transitional justice, mechanisms for implementing the project’s recommendations, means of supporting victims, ensuring inclusive accountability, combating hate speech, and the contributions of civil society organizations, religious figures, and media institutions to fostering coexistence.
The workshop highlighted initiatives undertaken by civil society organizations to strengthen social cohesion, the challenges they face, and potential solutions to address them.
Participants stressed that transitional justice represents a pathway from decades of violations toward a state governed by law, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between civil society organizations and the National Commission for Transitional Justice to ensure a credible process that prevents cycles of retaliation.
The workshop also examined methods to counter hate speech online, the role of the media in raising public awareness and supporting transitional justice, and future mechanisms for joint work, including the formation of a follow-up committee among participating entities.
During the workshop, Zahra al-Barazi, Deputy Chairperson of the National Commission for Transitional Justice, said the Commission has completed drafting the transitional justice bill, which defines the crimes subject to judicial proceedings and establishes the procedure for appointing judges.
She added that the Commission will receive public feedback over the coming month before holding a workshop to review comments in preparation for submitting the bill to the People’s Assembly.
Osama Mohammad, projects coordinator at RDI, said the project focuses on transitional justice, social cohesion, and countering hate speech. He added that the dialogue sessions held since June in several provinces concluded on Saturday, aimed at submitting recommendations to the relevant authorities.
