The arrival of Syrian rebels in Damascus marked the end former President Bashar Assad‘s tyranny. Not only is he suspected of using poison gas on his own citizens, but under his rule more than 15,000 people have been tortured to death since the civil war began in 2011, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). The non-governmental organization blames the Syrian military for 98% of these crimes. It attributes the remaining two percent to militias—including the now leading Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), considered a terrorist organization by some Western countries. The majority of the more than 150,000 arbitrary arrests recorded by the SNHR were carried out the Assad regime.

While Syria’s future remains unclear, both Mohammed al-Bashir, head of the transitional government, and Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who leads HTS, have called for a new era of peace and stability.

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