Disbanding Syria's notorious security services, closing prisons and hunting down anyone involved in torturing and killing prisoners will be a priority for the new authorities in Damascus.

This was announced by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the rebels who overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad in just ten days, but they will have a much more difficult task to introduce order, peace and stability in the chaotic country.

In the past 53 years under Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar, the Syrian authorities have become synonymous with a regime that most brutally suppresses all political opponents. Immediately after Bashar al-Assad fled into exile in Moscow, and the military and police forces disbanded themselves, the gates of the large prisons were opened, in which tens of thousands of people have disappeared over the decades. Most of the prisoners made it out alive, others were identified in the makeshift morgues, and thousands of people are still being sought. When the crowd went to the prisons, the guards and torturers were no longer there.

- We will pursue them throughout Syria and ask other countries to deliver them to us in order to satisfy justice - Al-Golani told Reuters, indicating that the priority of the new authorities is to clear up all the crimes of the regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that more than 60.000 people have been tortured and killed in Assad's prisons. Hundreds of thousands of people are still missing. The most cruel was the Sednaya prison, which was actually a "death camp" and was called "Slaughterhouse for people".

During the civil war, Assad's forces often used chemical weapons in populated areas to break up rebel groups. Human Rights Watch recorded 85 chemical weapons attacks in Syria between 2013 and 2018, with government forces responsible in most cases. A chemical weapons attack in Damascus in 2013 killed more than 1.400 people.

Mission Impossible

Al-Golani, whose real name is Ahmad al-Sharaa, is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the most powerful of a number of rebel groups across Syria. HTS is still on the lists of terrorist organizations in New York, Washington and Ankara, but al-Golani seeks to portray it as a reformed organization that has renounced its terrorist past, does not follow harsh Sharia law and respects the rights of all citizens, especially minorities. groups.

HTS successfully presented its moderate style in Aleppo, where the Salvation Government was elected to power. Now he will have to do it all over Syria in a chaotic situation, in which the security interests of all the neighbors are intertwined, when there is no longer an army or an organized police, when the Israeli forces in a few days destroyed the reserves of weapons and ammunition, the military airports and the entire Syrian fleet, and when the officers and members of the defeated Hezbollah are retreating en masse to Iran, on which the supply of oil and gas for the industry and energy system depends. The rebels who are in power not only have no allies on the international stage, but cooperation with them is officially impossible, because they are on the lists of terrorist organizations.

And before HTS's surprise offensive to Damascus, Syria was devastated and torn apart by 13 years of bloody civil war. More than ten million residents were forced to live far from their homes, and several million who were taken care of in collection centers in neighboring countries now want to return to their homes.

The heavy responsibility of returning the refugees and providing basic living conditions has been transferred to the newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir, who must once again create mechanisms to normalize the situation.

- We do not have foreign currency and we are still collecting data on loans and financial obligations. Yes, financially we are in a very bad position - said Bashir, who had the same task before, but in a much smaller territory under the control of the rebels in the northern part of Syria.

The reconstruction of Syria is a gigantic challenge even for much more experienced authorities with greater capacities, after a 13-year civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people died, under international sanctions and isolation.

Positive signals

The international community is sending restrained signals of support for the new authorities in Damascus. Their first steps were assessed as "positive" by the United Nations Special Missionary.

- The new government must clearly implement its commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, organize the delivery of humanitarian aid to all who need it, not allow Syria to be used as a base for terrorism and prevent any threats to its own neighbors - said the head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Finner confirmed to Reuters that Washington is following the development of the situation with great attention and restraint.

- In the past years, we have witnessed a series of militant groups that promised to rule in an inclusive way, and then we see that they do not fulfill their promises - said the representative of the State Department, Matthew Miller.

Republican and Democratic congressmen have urged the White House in an open letter to ease at least some of the sanctions imposed on Syria under the brutal Assad regime, which is no longer there. The renewal of sanctions should be discussed in Washington by the end of this year.

President Joe Biden, who is serving the last six weeks of his term, yesterday left for the Middle East together with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in a last ditch effort to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, but also to "help with a smooth transition of power" in Damascus," announced an anonymous American official. Biden and Sullivan will visit Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Qatar and Egypt.

Spanish Foreign Minister Luis Albarez said the European Union and the United Nations will review the status of HTS as a terrorist organization and discuss easing sanctions on Syria. He points out that the international community expects the rebel forces to transform into a political movement and respect human rights.

- We have to act very quickly, because in probably a month Damascus will have already made decisions, after which we will not have the influence we have now - Albares said.