In the fall of 2018, top Syrian leaders convened at Bashar al-Assad's presidential palace to discuss strategies for concealing evidence of mass graves and torture facilities, according to two individuals briefed on the meeting. The meeting, held in the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, was prompted by mounting leaks regarding the regime's alleged human rights abuses.

One proposal, put forth by Kamal Hassan, who ran an infamous arm of Syria, involved erasing the identities of Syrians who died in secret prisons from official records, effectively eliminating any paper trail, the sources said. The meeting highlights the efforts by the Assad regime to allegedly cover up potential war crimes.

The details emerged from a year-long investigation by reporters who reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed dozens of former Assad-era officials. The investigation sheds light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and its alleged attempts to evade accountability for human rights violations.

The Syrian government has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations. The claims come amid ongoing international scrutiny of the Assad regime's actions during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. Various international organizations have accused the Syrian government of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The alleged cover-up efforts coincide with ongoing attempts to hold the Assad regime accountable through international legal mechanisms. However, progress has been slow, hampered by political divisions and the complexities of gathering evidence in a conflict zone. The pictures of missing Syrians pasted on a monument in a public square in Damascus last January serve as a stark reminder of the unresolved fate of thousands of individuals.