Human Rights Watch, World Report 2025.

2024: A Year of Reckoning By Tirana Hassan, Executive Director

The Limits of Autocratic Rule 
In December, a coalition of opposition armed groups overthrew the deeply repressive government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, ending over 50 years of Baath Party rule. Emblematic war crimes and crimes against humanity under Assad included torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, use of chemical weapons, starvation as a weapon of war, and indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian objects. 
 
It is too soon to tell what Syria’s future holds or whether millions of Syrian refugees will be able to return safely. Indeed, the armed groups operating in Syria, including Hay’et Tahrir al Sham and factions of the Syrian National Army that joined the offensive, are also responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes. Whoever emerges as Syria’s new leadership should make a full and determined break from the repression and impunity of the past and chart a rights-respecting path for all Syrians, regardless of ethnic or religious background. Holding all those responsible for serious abuses to account is a critical step in that direction. 
 
Despite this uncertainty, the events in Syria offer insight into the limits of autocratic power. 
 
Even longstanding autocracies can be very fragile. Autocrats who rely on other governments to maintain their repressive rule are susceptible to their partner states’ shifting political calculations. For many years, Assad was able to maintain an iron grip on power because of Syria’s military alliance with Russia – an alliance that resulted in countless atrocities, including crimes against humanity, against the Syrian people. In the face of mounting evidence of grave abuses, Russia used its permanent seat at the UN Security Council to shield Syria from sustained international pressure and action. But Russia diverted its resources and support from Syria following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, contributing to Assad’s military vulnerability and exposing Russia’s limits as a patron of repression. 
 
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2025. New York.