On Wednesday, lawmakers ratified a motion that will dismantle the 2012 counter‑terrorism court, a tool once used to silence dissent after the 2011 uprising—bringing an end to a tribunal that had prosecuted thousands.
President Ahmed al‑Sharaa had already issued a June decree dismissing 67 judges and labeling the court abolished, while the March constitutional declaration called the rulings unjust and mandated the return of seized assets.
The 2024 UN Human Rights Committee report warned that the law providing for the court offered no safeguards against arbitrary detention, that it routinely deviated from standard procedures, and that detainees suffered widespread torture and ill‑treatment.
Assad was ousted on December 8 2024 after an 11‑day HTS offensive that seized Damascus, forcing him to flee to Russia and leaving the old regime’s institutions in limbo.
With the court’s abolition, the government will need to conduct a review of past convictions and may have to compensate victims—steps that officials say will begin in the coming weeks, setting the stage for a judicial audit.
For families displaced by the court’s sentences, the decision offers a glimmer of justice, hinting at the restoration of property that had been confiscated under the Assad era.