Lasting peace in Syria depends on the country building a strong judicial system giving justice to the victims of all crimes committed during the Assad era, a prominent Syrian human rights lawyer told AFP.

"We believe that the Syrians who paid the heavy cost to reach this moment will not accept changing one dictatorship into another," Mazen Darwish said in an interview.

Darwish, who was in Stockholm with his wife Yara Bader to receive an award for their work running the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), is one of the most high-profile rights advocates for Syria.

While acknowledging that progress "will take time", Darwish said: "We don't think that we will be able to reach sustainable peace in Syria if we don't solve all of these crimes."

Syria's international ties have started to reboot under its new transitional rulers, an Islamist coalition led by Ahmed al-Sharaa who commanded a rebel........

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