Hunters to Hunted: The Search Begins for Syrian Torturers and War Criminals

Will those responsible for abuses under the Assad regime go into hiding for years like some of the perpetrators of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide?

A man shows two ropes tied in the shape of nooses, found in the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 9, 2024. Hussein Malla/AP

Twenty years ago, the hunt was still active for key members of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, who had been ousted by the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Now, following the capture of Damascus by the Syrian rebels, it’s the turn of those who played key roles in the regime led for 24 years by Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, before him.