Photographie : © Diego Figone / IJF26
On the occasion of the 20th International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, held from 15 to 18 April, Justice Info, Fondation Hirondelle’s media outlet specialized in transitional and international justice, hosted a panel on a crucial issue: how to cover justice processes related to Syria that are now unfolding across multiple arenas.
The panel, entitled “Justice at last? Covering Syrian justice playing out on multiple stages” and moderated by Thierry Cruvellier, editor-in-chief of Justice Info, brought together Habib Nassar, a lawyer and transitional justice expert who has worked on the issue of the disappeared, as well as Justice Info correspondents Bushra Alzoubi, an independent Syrian journalist, and Hannah El-Hitami, who covers Syrian trials in Europe.
« For many people, transitional justice is the most pressing issue today. Because when there is no justice, when there is impunity, there will be violence, there might be revenge and people will take it into their own hands.»
Hannah El-Hitami
Watch the discussion on video:
Since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, journalists covering Syria have been confronted with a rapidly evolving judicial and para-judicial landscape. Post-Assad justice now rests on a heterogeneous constellation of mechanisms: unprecedented national transitional justice processes, locally driven and often informal truth-seeking initiatives that are both reactive and fragile, promises of future trials, alongside an unprecedented diversification of international judicial activity—whether through United Nations–mandated mechanisms or proceedings brought before a growing number of European courts exercising universal jurisdiction. For the press, documenting these developments requires an exceptionally high degree of vigilance, methodological rigor and critical judgment.
« If you don’t do anything on transitional justice, people will take it into their hands and get themselves justice »
Bushra Alzoubi
With around 50 people in the audience, including Syrian journalists and international justice experts, the discussion addressed emerging local initiatives and commissions, trials in Europe based on universal jurisdiction, and international mechanisms. As proceedings multiply, how can journalists report on them with rigour, nuance and responsibility? What challenges do they face in documenting these complex processes, which are often technical, sensitive and sometimes far removed from the Syrian context?
© Diego Figone / IFJ26
To learn more about justice in Syria, visit Justice Info.