Syrians mark one year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
UN human rights investigators have said that the cycles of vengeance and reprisal must be brought to an end in Syria, as the country commemorates the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. A UN independent commission of inquiry commended the steps taken by Syria's new leadership to address the crimes and abuses of the Assad era. But it said violent incidents in the past year had raised worries about the future direction of the country. Newshour's Lyse Doucet is in Damascus.
Also in the programme: we profile Formula 1's new champion Lando Norris; and a new documentary looks at what senior US military officials know about UFOs. (Photo: A drone view shows the parliament in Damascus, Syria, September 21, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Mahmoud Hassano)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesb. Coming up, Formula One has a new champion. The British driver, Lando Norris, will be hearing from a man who trained him as a teenager. |
| 0:23.0 | That's all to come. |
| 0:23.9 | But first, Syria is preparing to mark the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime on December the 8th last year. |
| 0:32.4 | In the end, it happened very quickly. |
| 0:34.5 | The regime that had survived, uprisings and civil war crumbled within a few days. |
| 0:44.5 | It's almost like a dream. It's like a dream. It's like a dream. I need someone to wake me up. What great joy for the people. |
| 0:56.4 | There is love as if they were waiting for a long time for us to liberate them from this dirt of a regime. |
| 1:02.5 | Well, Bashar al-Assad fled the capital Damascus shortly before rebel forces that had been sweeping across the country, arrived in the city. |
| 1:11.9 | He's now in Russia. |
| 1:17.4 | Bashar al-Assad had ruled the country since the year 2000, taking over from his father, |
| 1:24.0 | Hafez, who'd been in power since 1971. The brutal put-down of a pro-democracy uprising in 2011 led to a bloody civil war and Syria was plunged into years of violence and chaos. |
| 1:31.2 | Millions were displaced and many left the country. The lightning offensive that toppled Assad last |
| 1:36.9 | year was led by the HTS group. Its leader, former Al-Qaeda commander, Ahmed al-Shara, was appointed |
| 1:43.4 | president earlier this year. Ahmed al-Shara left al-Qaeda commander, Ahmed al-Shara, was appointed president earlier this year. |
| 1:45.7 | Ahmed al-Shara left al-Qaeda a number of years ago and fought against the group, |
| 1:50.7 | but it wasn't until this year that he was officially removed from the CIA terror watch list. |
| 1:56.4 | Well, when the regime collapsed, thousands of political prisoners were released. |
| 2:00.7 | But as news house Tim Franks reported earlier this year from Syria, when the regime collapsed, thousands of political prisoners were released. |
| 2:05.0 | But as News' house, Tim Franks reported earlier this year from Syria, |
| 2:07.9 | what happened to some people still isn't known. |
| 2:12.8 | Malak Aoudet's son was arrested by the security forces from his school, |
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