Syria’s new leaders have taken steps to steer the country away from dictatorship, with plans to overhaul the prison and security systems that were central to the rule by fear under the old Assad regime.

But their handling of waves of sectarian violence, their lack of inclusivity and the concentration of power in the hands of a few have raised concerns that their evolving style of governance remains rooted in authoritarianism.

For more than five decades under the Assad family, Syria was a security state ruled by terror, where the prison system stood as a grim instrument and symbol of intimidation. Torture and executions were rife in prisons that were used to detain and disappear tens of thousands of people, and keep the population under oppressive control.

In May, the Interior Ministry announced that it would overhaul the security and prison systems, with the goal of upholding human rights and preserving the dignity of inmates. This could entail building entirely new prisons or renovating existing ones to meet humane standards, the ministry said.

The “tyranny of security forces” is over, Nour al-Din al-Baba, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told The New York Times.

Still, there are a number of signs that those who ousted President Bashar al-Assad last December have not completely abandoned the old ways.