United Nations rights chief Volker Turk emphasized the importance of transitional justice for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.
Since Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month, the United Nations has called for Assad and others to be held accountable for the crimes committed during more than 13 years of civil war.
Tens of thousands of people have been detained and tortured in the country's jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons including banned sarin gas against his own people.
Expressing that revenge and vengeance are never the answer, UN chief Turk also asserted that justice must be served fairly and impartially.
Thousands of detainees poured out of prisons after Assad's fall.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says more than 100,000 people have died in detention from torture or dire health conditions across Syria since 2011.
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