The Syrian National Commission for Detainees and Missing Persons held a panel discussion on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared. Ex-detainees as well as workers in the field of documentation and defense of the rights of detainees and human rights took part in the discussion.
Chairman of the Commission, Yasser Al-Farhan, talked about the importance of releasing and disclosing the fate of all detainees and the forcibly disappeared people in the prisons of the Assad regime. He pointed out that the Commission is seeking to step up communications with international organizations to “convey the voice of the voiceless.”
Farhan stressed that resolving the issue of detainees will be difficult without achieving a full political transition in Syria. He said that the Assad regime have become accustomed to the sight of blood, adding that it will commit more crimes as a career criminal. He cited the enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests taking place in the areas that saw forced “reconciliation” agreements across Syria.
Participants in the discussion listened to testimonies of ex-detainees who spoke about the horrors and inhumane violations taking place in the prisons of the Assad regime, stressing that the issue of the disappeared and detainees is still a priority requiring effective action to ensure their release.
At the end of the discussion, the participants agreed to send letters to the international community including proposals for new mechanisms for redressing victims and preventing impunity as well as stressing the need to disclose the fate of the forcibly disappeared and abdictees in the prisons of the Assad regime.
The letters also demanded the referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court, stressing that accountability is an essential part of the political solution that was spelled out in the international resolutions, especially the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN resolution 2254. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
