India, Aug. 11 -- Bashar al-Assad Death Sentence: For years, the Syrian civil war left families searching for missing relatives, communities buried under the destruction of fighting and victims demanding justice for alleged abuses committed under Bashar al-Assad's government. On Tuesday, Syria's transitional authorities took their most significant legal step yet against the former ruler.

A criminal court in Damascus sentenced Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia over crimes linked to the years of conflict that followed the 2011 uprising. His brother Maher al-Assad and cousin Atef Najib also received death sentences. Bashar and Maher remain outside Syria, while Najib appeared before the court in person.

The ruling marks a major moment fo...