Fighting stopped in Ras al-Ayn (also known in Kurdish as Serekaniye) in the beginning of November after the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a militia allied with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), took control of the city and a large number of villages around it. Al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and other Islamist groups were […]

Qamishli is no longer the city of either black or white gold, as Syrians used to call it due to its natural oil wealth and cotton fields. The situation has now changed, and most oil wells have stopped working. Companies have pulled out of the Rmeilan field to the east of Qamishli after oil pipelines were broken and stolen, stopping […]

Manbij, a city of 72,000 people northeast of Aleppo, is relatively stable compared to other Syrian cities. This stability has turned it into a destination for some of Syria’s internally displaced people, who arrive in search of security, jobs, markets, and education. This is Manbij today through the photographs of Zaid Mohammad. The photos were taken on October 21, 2013.

Opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo experienced a state of relative stability in the past few months, as a number of displaced people returned and schools and shops reopened their doors. But the situation has become tense again in early October as clashes erupted between opposition fighters and regime forces. These clashes, and shelling, have forced some of the families that returned […]

Social media have had a significant role in disseminating information and ideas in the Arab countries that witnessed uprisings against the ruling regimes. These forums, however, have played a limited role in promoting the concept of transitional justice. This short animated feature discusses what social media activists could do to support transitional justice. It also offers advice to activists to […]

After the current conflict in Syria ends, the future government will have to reform security and judicial institutions. This short animated movie presents recommendations made by Syrian activists on how to restructure security apparatuses and courts to conform with human rights standards.

Transitional justice is a process applied in societies that are in a transitional phase, such as dealing with changes following a civil war or the fall of a political regime. What are the most prominent experiences in achieving transitional justice in the Arab world? And what are the challenges that might face Syria in achieving transitional justice after the end […]

This short animated movie presents the events that happened in Syria in 2011, and led to a popular uprising against the regime, and how this uprising developed into an armed conflict between opposition and government forces.

The school year started in Syria in mid-September. Several schools in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo have been partially or completely destroyed. Charity organizations have started to rebuild some of the damaged schools, or tried to provide makeshift schools for Aleppo’s students. Photography by Zaid Mohammad

Families that were displaced from the Salaheddine neighbourhood in Aleppo took advantage of a lull in fighting in early September to visit their homes under the supervision of the Free Syrian Army. Those who returned had the chance to meet the neighbours they had not seen since they left their homes. They also collected whatever personal items and furniture they […]