“None of the Syrian opposition’s efforts over the last 11 years have managed to achieve a breakthrough when it comes to one of the most pressing issues in the Syrian conflict – those jailed, missing, or forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) announced that the number of forcible disappearances between March 2011 and August 2021 at “the hands of parties to the conflict and the forces in control of Syria” reached 102,287.
Chairman of the network, Fadel Abdul Ghany, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister publication, that the topic of prisoners and those missing in Syria is one of the most painful issues for Syrians, describing it as a catastrophe which had befallen the people.
He added that the fate of 85 percent of detainees and the disappeared remains unknown, with their families having lived in a state of anxiety and fear for many years.
Abdel Ghany explained that the number of prisoners is “very high in terms of Syria’s population”, adding that Syria was the worst in the world in this respect and that, unfortunately, there had been no progress made on the issue at all.
The regime has still not faced any accountability for its crimes against millions of Syrians, with little pressure being put on Assad or his allies to release those detained.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross needs to be allowed, as a neutral party, to enter into the detention centres,” he said.
It is a duty of the international community to put pressure on the Syrian regime in a way that will draw a line under this catastrophe and crime against humanity, he added.”
