Large segments of Syrians feel that the new government, instead of launching a genuine transitional justice process, is reproducing a logic of “settlements” reminiscent of the previous era’s impunity.
In Deir ez-Zor, controversy resurfaced following reports of settlements involving figures associated with wartime abuses, including Madloul al-Aziz and Firas al-Jaham (“Freis al-Iraqiya”), whose names frequently appear in local narratives accusing them of grave violations during battles that also involved the late officer Issam Zahreddine.
A City Between Siege and Memory
Deir ez-Zor endured one of the harshest sieges of the war, particularly during the blockade imposed by Islamic State (ISIS) between 2014 and 2017.
Food supplies were airlifted into the city’s airport, amid widespread accounts of profiteering and extreme price inflation during mass starvation.
Today, as financial “settlements” are reportedly reached with controversial figures, the fundamental question resurfaces:
Can justice be reduced to a bank transfer?
Can money—allegedly accumulated during years of suffering—serve as closure for bloodshed?
Complaint-Based Justice?
Officials have suggested that anyone dissatisfied may file a personal complaint to trigger an investigation.
Critics argue this shifts the burden of justice from the state to the victims themselves.
Is it reasonable, they ask, that a former local militia commander requires an individual lawsuit to verify allegations widely embedded in collective memory?
The irony is stark:
A state presumed to possess extensive security archives now tells its citizens to “bring proof and start over.”
Between Transitional Justice and Checkbook Justice
True transitional justice rests on:
- Truth
- Accountability
- Reparations
But when the formula becomes:
Pay a sum… and the page is turned,
the public perception changes dramatically.
On Syrian streets, bitter sarcasm circulates:
“Bring Bashar al-Assad, Maher al-Assad, and Suheil al-Hassan — settle with them too, if blood is now priced in dollars.”
It is satire born of exhaustion.
A people who sacrificed immensely now fear that justice is being converted into a financial ledger entry.
Justice is not revenge.
But neither is it a transaction.