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Abstract
The overthrown Syrian Bashar al-Assad regime developed an international reputation of a harsh authoritarian government that had committed numerous international law violations over the years, emanating mostly after the 2011 Syrian Civil war. But how have the perpetrators of the acts still largely evaded prosecution? The purpose of this piece is to provide an exploratory roadmap of how prosecutions should look going forward in the Syrian context, along with other transitional justice mechanisms. This piece will examine what crimes are punishable under international law and explain some history behind their codification. These definitions will then be applied to crimes that have taken place at the hands of everyone in the previous regime, from Bashar al-Assad himself, to senior and lower-level officials, as well as the main perpetrators, the Syrian military and security forces. The final chapter of this piece will revolve around the fact that Syria and its people need a punitive transitional justice, and what different forms exist that will work best for different classes of perpetrators. While no method is perfect or sure to work, the methods that are put forth will be analyzed as the best possible methods for future justice.