One of the cruelest aspects of Syria’s 11-year war has been how countless families have been prevented from learning the fate of missing or abducted loved ones.
Now, there’s a new push to change that, so at least parents might be able to know what happened to their children – and children, their parents.
The problem is vast. The practice of forcibly “disappearing” people in Syria has been common, and an estimated 111,000 people are currently languishing in detention facilities or elsewhere.
There are no reliable ways for families to even know their whereabouts. Or even if they are still alive.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been responsible for the vast majority of these disappearances, which frequently result in torture and death in custody, also by execution. Even before the crisis began in 2011, Syrian authorities forcibly disappeared people for peaceful political opposition, critical reporting, and human rights activism.
Non-state armed groups have also abducted people, with some like ISIS taking hostages and summarily killing them.
For years, groups representing families, as well as Syrian civil society and international human rights organizations, have been pushing for a formal, independent body to investigate disappearances.
In August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres proposed one, and the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has thrown its weight behind the idea, urging governments not to delay.
Now, UN member countries need to make it happen at the UN General Assembly.
Establishing an international, independent entity to track and identify the missing and disappeared in Syria is not straightforward at the UN. The Syrian government has its international supporters in Russia and Iran. Some of the non-state armed groups have their backers in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
Still, with high-level support clearly building, there’s an opportunity for progress.
The families of the disappeared should not have to wait any longer.