Syria is undergoing a political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and 13 years of brutal civil war.
Families in need
In response to a journalist’s question, Mr. Al-Kateen said OHCHR had managed to document at least 97 people abducted since the beginning of this year.
This is in addition to the more than 100,000 people who went missing during the Assads’ father-and-son rule, which lasted about fifty years.
While some families have been reunited with their loved ones, “Many still live with the sadness of not knowing where they are or what happened to them” he said.
He stressed that “the fate and whereabouts of all those missing, both before and after the fall of the former government, need to be urgently clarified.”
In this context, he underlined OHCHR’s support for the work of the Independent Institution for Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP).
Karla Quintana, who heads the UN body, recently said that “everyone in Syria knows someone who is missing.”
Missing emergency worker
Mr Al-Keetan highlighted the case of Hamza Al-Amarin, a volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, commonly known as the White Helmets.
He went missing on July 16 this year while supporting a humanitarian evacuation mission during the violence in Suweida, located in the south, and remains missing.
“We emphasize that all armed actors – whether exercising state power or otherwise – must respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times and in all places, as required by international human rights law and applicable humanitarian law,” the spokesperson said.
“Accountability and justice for all human rights violations and abuses, past and present, are essential for Syria to build a sustainable, peaceful and secure future for all its people.”
#continue #worrying #reports #kidnappings #disappearances #Syria