Bashar al-Assad issued a statement this week, insisting that his flight from Syria was not pre-planned but an emergency evacuation arranged by Moscow. How the Syrian dictator left, however, is of far less concern than how brutally he ruled. What the hundreds of thousands of families of those killed, disappeared, imprisoned, raped or tortured by his regime want to see above all is Assad and his entourage brought to justice for a horrific toll of atrocities over decades.

Among the most heart-wrenching videos and accounts since Assad’s overthrow are of gaunt prisoners being freed from the notorious Saydnaya prison and other jails. Families have been roaming cellblocks and combing through files and photos in search of any trace of loved ones.

Syrians deserve justice. But a major complication of the effort to hold Assad, his family and his henchmen to account is that many have already fled. Some top generals and officials have reportedly escaped to neighbouring Arab countries, or gone into hiding in their hometowns.