Hopes are rising that, with the support of the United Nations, the architects of the brutal former regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria will eventually be held accountable for their crimes.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said transitional justice was "crucial" for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.

GENEVA - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk arrived in Syria's capital, Damascus, on Tuesday for the first ever visit of the global body's rights chief to the country. Read more at straitstimes.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Wednesday for a Syrian national reconciliation process to ensure justice for crimes committed over the past five decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family.