Ghana Urged to Support Syrian Missing Persons Effort at the UN

Syrian family groups are urging UN member states—including Ghana—to take immediate action to establish an institution to reveal the fate and whereabout of forcibly disappeared and missing persons in Syria.

A debate will be held in the UN General Assembly on 28 March—the UN Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will both attend. The final vote by member states in the General Assembly will take place in the coming weeks.

More than 100,000 Syrian men, women and children have gone missing or been forcibly disappeared at the hands of Syrian authorities, as well as opposition forces, since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. The disappearances are still ongoing today.

Syrian authorities and other armed actors conceal the whereabouts and fate of those they have forcibly disappeared, inflicting cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment on their relatives.

Syrian families—whether in Syria or the diaspora—are searching for any evidence of missing loved ones, bearing the burden of uncertainty, often for years.

The pursuit of truth and justice for missing persons is frequently regarded as a prerequisite for lasting peace. The creation of this UN institution would therefore not only represent a landmark for the people of Syria, bringing some measure of peace to the families concerned, but could provide a model for securing peace and justice in conflicts around the world, for years to come.

A wide variety of unconnected non-governmental, international, humanitarian, and family organizations work on the Syria missing persons issue, playing a critical role in collecting information and following up on cases. But a lack of coordination leaves victims and survivors in prolonged legal and psychological limbo. ‘‘Families don’t know anymore where to go to give data and information; everything is so dispersed,’’ a family representative told the UN.

The scale and complexity of the crisis necessitates a comprehensive approach. A dedicated independent entity would serve as an entry point for survivors and families and provide a framework for existing actors to continue and coordinate their work.

Its mandate will have two main prongs: (1) to clarify the fate of the missing persons and (2) provide adequate support to the families.

The new institution will use and consolidate existing data and claims, examine underused information sources, advocate for access to detention sites, establish a coordination framework with other institutions, and provide comprehensive support to victims, survivors, and their families to address psychosocial, legal, administrative, economic, and commemorative needs.

The Syrian families have been working, tirelessly, to garner support from a cross-regional collection of member states.

Among those who have spoken in favor of the UN missing-persons institution is Sirra Ndow, The Gambia’s country representative for the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED). ‘’My family and I feel your pain,’’ she said in a solidarity message to Syrian families.

“To Syrian families I say, we are with you,’’ said Ahmed Borhaneddine Otsmane of the Algerian association, SOS Disparus, which has been seeking truth and justice for thousands of missing persons who disappeared during the internal conflict which engulfed the country in the 1990s and after. ‘’I know what you are going through, I feel for you. An international mechanism is important and should set an example. It gives us hope that we can openly address the crime of enforced disappearance, to name, shame and blame so that it is never repeated.’’

‘’To the Syrian families in struggle, I express my strong solidarity for our common cause,’’ said Ram Kumar Bhandari from Nepal, the founder of the National Network of Families of the Disappeared and Missing in Nepal and co-founder of the International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Abuses. ‘’I feel and I hear your voice. I know what you are going through. The fight is very hard. We are with you, and the world is listening to you. A new United Nations Special Institution for Syria’s Disappeared is very important for the struggle to place Syria’s disappeared on the global agenda and to give families an international voice for justice.’’