ReutersSyrian opposition forces said they plan to close the harsh prisons run by ousted President Bashar al-Assad and pursue those involved in killing or torturing detainees.
Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, said he would disband the security forces of the former regime, in a statement seen by Reuters.
Videos have emerged showing the release of thousands of prisoners from Saydnaya prison – referred to as the “human slaughterhouse” by human rights groups – after the collapse of Assad's government on Sunday.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nearly 60,000 people had been tortured and killed in Assad-run prisons.
Al-Julani's Islamist militant group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, led other Syrian opposition factions in a lightning attack that toppled the Assad family's 54-year rule.
Al-Assad fled to Russia in the early hours of Sunday morning, where he and his family obtained asylum after opposition fighters took control of the capital, Damascus.
In a separate statement, Al-Julani said that pardoning those who participated in torturing or killing prisoners was out of the question.
He added: “We will pursue them in Syria, and we call on countries to hand over those who fled so that we can achieve justice.”
Since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians have rushed to the regime's notorious prisons, desperately searching for their loved ones. The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), based in Türkiye, said in a report issued in 2022. Sednaya “has effectively become a death camp” After the start of the civil war in 2011.
Al-Julani also said he would disband the security forces of the former Assad regime. It is not clear how quickly the rebel fighters can reconstitute amid concerns about Israeli strikes on the country's military infrastructure.
In the statement seen by Reuters, Al-Julani said that his group is working with international organizations to secure potential sites for chemical weapons.
When Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh was asked about the Reuters report, she said the United States “welcomed” Al-Julani’s words but said they needed to be met with action.
“Our focus is that these chemical weapons do not fall into the wrong hands,” she added.
This comes after Israel carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria He seized a number of military assets.
One of the attacks targeted a research center suspected of being linked to chemical weapons production, according to local media reports.
Israel says it is working to prevent weapons from falling “into the hands of extremists.”
The United Nations Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons describes a chemical weapon as a chemical used to intentionally cause death or harm through its toxic properties.
Their use is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Between 2013 and 2018, Human Rights Watch documented at least 85 chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and blamed the ousted government for most of them.
Assad's government has denied ever using chemical weapons.
Syria signed the OPCW's chemical weapons certification in 2013, a month after a chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus killed more than 1,400 people.
It is not known how many chemical weapons Syria possesses, but it is believed that Assad maintained stockpiles and that the declaration he made was incomplete.
Victims of chemical attacks in Syria She recently spoke to the BBC About the devastating effects they experienced.
Meanwhile, European foreign ministers meet in Berlin on Thursday for crucial talks on Syria and Ukraine.
A day later, G7 leaders will also discuss the latest developments in Syria in a virtual meeting, the White House said.
