Damascus, SANA-Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) held a meeting with the National Commission for the Missing to explore avenues of cooperation on the issue of missing and forcibly disappeared persons—one of the most complex and urgent human rights challenges in Syria.
SNHR Executive Director Fadel Abdul Ghany expressed the network’s readiness to support the Commission by providing access to its comprehensive database, which documents approximately 177,000 cases of enforced disappearance since 2011, in support of truth-seeking, accountability, and memorialization efforts.
Head of the Commission, Dr.Mohammad Ridha Jalkhi, presented the national strategy for locating missing persons, which includes enhanced data collection mechanisms, the formation of investigative teams, and psychosocial support programs for affected families.
Both parties emphasized the importance of adhering to international legal frameworks, particularly the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and reaffirmed the right of families to know the fate of their loved ones—a right that is non-negotiable under international humanitarian and human rights law.
The National Commission for the Missing was established by presidential decree in May 2025 to uncover the fate of thousands of missing Syrians and provide legal and humanitarian support to their families.
