Tbilisi, June 25 (SANA) Justice Minister, Mazhar al-Wais, said Syria had endured more than 50 years of authoritarian rule, adding that the deposed regime has used violence over the past 15 years to suppress the popular uprising.
Speaking on Thursday at the 2026 United Nations Public Service Forum in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, al-Wais reviewed the challenges Syria faced under the ousted regime, noting that the popular revolution, that broke out 15 years ago, was crowned in the regime’s fall in December 2024.
The minister said the collapse of the ousted regime revealed the scale of the crisis that left more than one million martyr, over 250,000 cases of enforced disappearance in prisons, more than 15 million displaced people and refugees, and the destruction of more than 75 percent of the country’s cities and infrastructure.
Al-Wais said that since its formation, the Syrian government has focused on assessing the country’s current situation and strengthening the principles of equal citizenship and the rule of law as a means of protecting rights and citizens rather than empowering authority.
He added that the government has also prioritized administrative reform, combating corruption and encouraging investment despite the lingering effects of sanctions, which have begun to be gradually lifted by the United States and the European Union.
“The transitional period has seen the adoption of a constitutional declaration and the formation of a transitional government, alongside progress toward legislative elections through electoral bodies,” al-Wais said.
He added that transparency in public administration is not “a luxury, but a necessity and a national duty.”
MZN
