Our Goals:
To advance justice for victims and survivors, and to strengthen their meaningful participation in truth and justice processes, Synergy implements five interconnected programs:
1. Documenting Violations:
Synergy documents various patterns of human rights violations in Syria, regardless of the identity of the victims or perpetrators. This work includes collecting, storing, and securing evidence and testimonies in a protected database, indexing them following human rights standards, as well as their analysis using legal expertise and data-driven methodologies.
Our documentation aims to uncover the truth, support accountability efforts, ensure the meaningful participation of victims, survivors, and their families in justice processes, raise public awareness, and strengthen community solidarity with victims.
Synergy maintains a continuously updated database, containing over 35,000 records across multiple categories of violations, including killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, forced displacement, violations of housing, land, and property (HLP) rights, infringements on freedom of opinion and expression, and demographic change.
2. Justice and Accountability:
Synergy leverages evidence, documentation, and testimonies to support accountability efforts, advance justice, and combat impunity, with a particular emphasis on empowering victims to take a leading role in these processes.
The program provides evidence to support UN investigations, war crimes units, and litigation before national and international courts. It also offers technical, professional, and legal assistance to victims, survivors, and witnesses, enabling them to claim their rights and meaningfully participate in legal processes.
3. Empowerment:
Synergy prioritizes building the capacities of victims, survivors, and their families by enhancing their knowledge and skills in areas such as rights, advocacy, and community organizing. This enables them to influence their communities, participate in decision-making, and lead initiatives and campaigns to defend their rights.
The program aims to foster a society that is aware of its rights, capable of claiming them, resilient in the face of challenges, and actively engaged in processes of social and civic change.
4. Victims Support:
Synergy provides a comprehensive, priorities-and needs based framework to support victims, survivors, and their families. This includes psychological, social, legal, and medical assistance aimed at promoting recovery, strengthening resilience, and facilitating meaningful reintegration. The program also enables active participation in society and engagement in transitional justice processes.
5.Advocacy:
Advocacy is a core element that complements all of Synergy’s programs. The Association leverages its communication and advocacy expertise to share the outcomes of its activities widely with local and international actors, decision-makers, and United Nations bodies, ensuring that victims’ voices reach influential platforms and enhancing the overall impact of its efforts.
Synergy also publishes regular reports and awareness-raising content to promote public understanding of human rights, strengthen solidarity with victims, survivors, and their families, and mobilize local and international communities to take action on priority issues.
The objectives of Synergy’s advocacy efforts include:
- Raising awareness of human rights violations in Syria and clarifying the responsibilities and obligations of all relevant actors.
- Strengthening solidarity with victims, survivors, and their families, amplifying their voices in claiming the right to truth and justice.
- Applying political and legal pressure to encourage governments, international, and UN bodies to take concrete measures to protect human rights, hold violators accountable, and provide support to victims, survivors, and their families.
- Enhancing the participation of victims in shaping policies and decisions that affect their lives and rights.
- Contributing to a shift in societal attitudes toward human rights and promoting a culture of accountability that prevents impunity.