Syria, commission of inquiry into 100 thousand forced disappearances begins

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a draft resolution to establish an international body that will investigate the forced disappearances of more than 100,000 people in Syria since the beginning of the unrest in 2011.

A draft for the establishment of an international commission to shed light on the fate of over 100 thousand people forcibly disappeared in Syria from 2011 to today was approved on June 30 during the 77th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

These are children, women and men who were arbitrarily arrested and taken to government prisons, but also civilians stopped by the various fighting parties and ISIS terrorists.

For years, the families of these people, gathered in various associations that operate in the places of the diaspora, have been asking for light to be shed on the fate of their relatives, but until now their appeals had remained unheard.

War in Syria, population left alone for too long

“This is a historic resolution and a long-awaited step by the international community, which finally comes to the aid of the families of all those who have been forcibly disappeared, kidnapped, tortured and held in conditions of arbitrary detention and solitary confinement over the last twelve years,” said the President of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro.

“Syrians have been left alone in the search for their loved ones for too long and this institution is a humanitarian imperative and complements efforts towards accountability.”

Missing Syrians, an indispensable commission

In June 2022, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria published a document calling for the creation of an institution with an international mandate, following its proposal already presented in the 2021 report with the aim of shedding light on forced disappearances over the last decade in Syria.

Since the beginning of the violence in 2011, the Commission has collected a considerable wealth of information, which will be made available to the new institution. “What the families of missing people in Syria expect is that best practices, methodologies, technologies and adequate resources will be mobilized by this new institution,” said Hanny Megally, member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

Read also: • Syria: the dramatic situation still pushes citizens to flee the country • War in Syria, a story of eleven years without peace

The United Nations vote, against China and Russia

During the session, 83 countries, including Italy and the United States, voted in favour, 62 abstained and 11, including China and Russia, expressed their opposition.

The results of the vote were welcomed with great satisfaction by the associations of family members of the so-called Syrian desaparecidos born in the countries where the refugees fleeing the war found themselves, such as Germany, England and the United States.

Thanks to the support of international human rights associations, they managed to mobilize over time and create a structured mobilization from below.

The call to investigate forced disappearances in Syria

On 23 June, just in view of the meeting of the member countries of the United Nations Assembly, around a hundred Syrian and international associations had launched an appeal asking for the creation of an independent institution to shed light on the fate of their loved ones who had been forcibly disappeared, defining the initiative as "a milestone in the international response to the conflict in Syria".

Among the signatory Syrian associations are Families for Freedom, founded in London, and Caesar Families Association, born in Berlin, while international associations in defense of human rights include, among others, Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch.

The bitter satisfaction with the new organization

«Right now! Huge victory for the victims, survivors and their families of Syria,” commented Mansur al Omari, consultant for Reporters Without Borders on Syria and former victim of torture.

Satisfaction was also expressed by Kristyan Benedict, manager of Amnesty International's campaigns for Syria and Israel/Palestine, who defined the initiative as historic, expressing "the utmost respect for the Syrian human rights activists who led these works".

On the importance of the initiative, the comment of the journalist and activist Wafa Mustafa should be noted, who recalls, in recent days, the tenth anniversary of the forced disappearance of her father Ali in Syrian government prisons:

“I am grateful to hear about the UN's creation of the Independent Missing Persons Agency in Syria, but it is disheartening that it has taken twelve years to get there.”