The head of the Syrian National Commission for the Affairs of Detainees and Missing Persons, Yasser Al-Farhan, said that the Assad regime continues to detain and execute detainees in its prisons. He pointed to new evidence of the Assad regime’s mass execution of those who deny it was detaining, citing the Assad regime’s continued issuance of death notices for detainees who perished in its prisons to the civil registry departments in the Syrian provinces.
Al-Farhan stressed that war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity are taking place against detainees in the prisons of the Assad regime. He pointed out that the Assad regime continues to challenge the reports issued by the International Commission of Inquiry and all international statements about its responsibility for the torture and mass execution of the detainees in its prisons.
“The majority of the UN Security Council resolutions unequivocally condemned the arbitrary detention of civilians, torture, summary executions, and enforced disappearances in Syria. They also called for the immediate cessation of such practices and the release of all arbitrarily detained persons,” Farhan said.
“The showing of disregard for these reports confirms that the regime is avidly seeking to get rid of its opponents, a policy that has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands.”
Farhan added: “This would place greater responsibility on the United Nations to save the lives of the remaining detainees in the prisons of the regime and hold those responsible for such crimes to account.”
Farhan called on the United Nations and international organizations to take urgent, concrete action, including forcing the Assad regime to give international bodies access to detention centers to ascertain the situation of detainees.
Moreover, Farhan stressed the need to enforce the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry to immediately refer the perpetrators of violations against detainees to fair trials; ensure the release of the remining detainees; and prevent further arbitrary detentions in line with the UN resolutions, most importantly the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN resolution 2254. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
