A burly bearded man in a blue tunic moved swiftly through grassy stubble on a windswept road in rural Damascus, collecting bones with his bare hands. He added a jaw to the pile, before gently picking up a skull. Briefly, he kissed it - a moment of tenderness for one of the many victims of Bashar al-Assad. Ten months after Assad was ousted from power last December, in a lightning rebel advance, mass graves are still being uncovered.
The Syrian dictator's legacy is embedded in the soil here - skeletal remains where crops should be. There are now more than 60 grave sites and counting. One of the latest came to light in al-Otaiba village, in the district of Eastern Ghouta, where a shepherd stumbled on clothing and human remains after straw was burnt off.
The authorities believe as many as 175 bodies were bulldozed into a mass grave in this former opposition stronghold. They are among the legions of the missing.
More than 181,000 people were forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained during the 14 years of Syria's civil war, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights monitoring group. It says 90% were taken by the Assad regime.
The families of the missing are now demanding answers and justice, from the new Syria – which held its first parliamentary election, of a sort, earlier this month. A 'people's assembly' was chosen but not directly by the people. One-third of the seats remain to be filled. The appointees will be hand-picked by Syria's Interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
As Syria faces forward, President Sharaa - a jihadi fighter turned head of state - says the missing will remain 'a national priority'.
Bereaved relatives like Kasim Hamami are counting on that. They can do little else. We found him digging by the roadside at the mass grave site, pulling secrets from the soil.
As we watched, he uncovered a frayed, brownish jumper covered in dirt. It was a last trace of Samer, his brother, who disappeared aged 21. 'Samer was a civilian,' Kasim said softly, 'and newly-wed, just 15 days into his marriage. He had nothing to do with armed groups.'
Many senior figures from the former regime are on the run, and Hezbollah has been devastated by Israeli attacks, and Israel's war on Lebanon in 2024. A Syrian judge has issued an arrest warrant, in absentia, for Bashar al-Assad, in relation to other killings. But the former president has found refuge in Russia – which backed him during the civil war.
It's not known if his fate was discussed when President Sharaa held talks with President Putin in Moscow on Wednesday - the former enemies shaking hands in the Kremlin and discussing how to strengthen relations. If Assad was watching, it won't have been easy viewing.
Back home, there is one major change for families he destroyed. They can now share their anguish without risking their lives.
About an hour's drive from the mass grave, we joined a gathering of wives, mothers, and daughters of the missing. They met at a 'Truth Tent' - a community-led forum where Syrians lay bare the horrors of the past. In this case the 'tent' was a village hall.
They gathered around us, holding out photos of husbands, fathers, or sons - men who may live now only in their memory.
The authorities asked her to sign a paper saying her husband was a terrorist, but she refused. 'I never saw him carrying a weapon,' she said. 'He went out demonstrating because he was hungry.'
With little recourse to justice, families continue to seek truth and accountability as they navigate the complex political landscape reshaped by Assad's fall.
